Landscape art echoes Maties’ contribution to agriculture
A LANDSCAPE art project focusing on agriculture is taking shape in the Overberg in the Western Cape. The land installation consists of two giant circles planted with wheat and canola. Each circle is 100m in diameter.
Renowned South African landscape artist Strijdom van der Merwe explores the fragile interaction between humans, nature and agriculture in this project, titled “The Earth”.
He developed this concept as commissioned work for the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University (SU), part of the faculty’s centenary celebrations this year.
The circles were planted among wheatfields on the farm Boontjieskraal in the Overberg (next to the N2, in the direction of Riviersonderend when travelling from Cape Town). It can be seen from the highway and is increasingly visible due to the crops growing well after recent rains.
Professor Danie Brink, dean of the faculty, says the landscape art piece contributes to the conversation about the contribution and relevance of agriculture and the faculty in society. “We wanted to display this visually with Strijdom’s help.”
“Since SU’s early days at the old Victoria College, the faculty has been at the forefront of research and training. Our efforts support producers with collaboration and research.”
It is also of historical significance that the faculty’s first doctoral degree, awarded in 1927, was for a dissertation focusing on local wheat production, he points out.
Van der Merwe, who grew up on a farm near Johannesburg and studied at SU, says he has been looking forward to creating such an artwork for a while. “I have always wanted to create my own crop circles among wheatfields.”
Van der Merwe used an ancient symbol that appears in many of the world’s ancient rock engravings in this artwork. “A circle with a cross in it is considered one of the Earth’s oldest known symbols,” he says.
This artwork was inspired by rock engravings at Driekopseiland near Douglas (south of Kimberley in the Northern Cape). The almost 4 000 engravings documented on a rocky outcrop at this site are mostly abstract or geometrical petroglyphs (art chiselled in rock). These engravings are visible only when the water level is low.
Scientists and artists have been trying for decades to unravel the meaning of these petroglyphs, Van der Merwe says. “Some say that people from other continents were the engravers. Others reckon it had something to do with the mythical water snake or rituals related to when young girls reached puberty.”
The circular symbol has also been used in the Constitutional Court’s coat of arms, Van der Merwe notes.
“We have now used this symbol in a modernday agricultural context. This living installation will change colour with the seasons, from green to yellow and brown. This represents the cycles of nature and life.”
The quarters of the symbol also represent the natural elements of fire, water, air and soil, Van der Merwe says. “These elements are central to agriculture and the landscape artist’s work.”