Makita with the seed view during artistic fieldwork project, 2022
From left to right Big Al, Makita Sayada and Aiko Owada creating the fieldwork project in late 2022
Photographs by Big Al
Hatake Seed Works was an experimental artistic fieldwork project in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
Alongside artist and farmer Aiko Owada, and architectural graduate turned thatcher Makita Sayada, a field overrun with weeds was sown using the techniques of Masanobu Fukuoka in late autumn 2022.
Between the fruits of an organic mikan orchard, the three artists went about weeding, cutting, and scattering the discarded plants over randomly thrown Japanese vegetable seeds. This randomized seeding method, combined with weed mulching, aimed to explore alternatives to mechanised and highly controlled farming practices present in other agricultural methods.
A fluorescent-taped border marked the boundary of the project in the field—a moving, dynamic pink frame.
To learn more about Aiko’s artworks, visit Aiko Owada
2022/11/28 Hatake Seed Works
CATALOGUE : archived
LOCATION : Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
WITH : Aiko Owada and Makita Sayaka
this project is dedicated to Lako-san and Hiro-san