Rice paddy art.

July 20, 2007 2:32 PM

"Pimp my rice paddy." Crop art for aliens, instead of by them.
posted by dersins (24 comments total)

That's amazing. I love that it's done with a different colored plant, it makes it much more impressive when you consider that this must be planned out in detail well in advance of the picture being visible.
posted by quin at 2:51 PM on July 20, 2007

That's amazing. I love that it's done with a different colored plant, it makes it much more impressive when you consider that this must be planned out in detail well in advance of the picture being visible.

They're Japanese, they have crazy supercomputer robots do all the calculations... duuuuuuuuuuuh

Seriously. That is freakin' cooool
posted by Debaser626 at 3:01 PM on July 20, 2007

Amazing. So much patient effort must go into those, they deserve the attention they get!
posted by Salmonberry at 3:06 PM on July 20, 2007

Sugoi! Damn cool, thanks for the link.
posted by vito90 at 3:17 PM on July 20, 2007

I find it hard to believe that this is real. Photoshop? Corel? Magic faeries?

I hope it's real, because that would be cool...just sayin'.
posted by Pecinpah at 3:21 PM on July 20, 2007

great...thanks
posted by HuronBob at 3:24 PM on July 20, 2007

Neat link. Northern Honshu is the best.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:27 PM on July 20, 2007

Pecinpah.. check this out
posted by Debaser626 at 3:30 PM on July 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'll believe it when I see it in google earth. That's too awesome to be real.
posted by IronLizard at 3:30 PM on July 20, 2007

Also, they're getting "better." Seems (to me at least) that they use the same camera angle for almost every shot. if you follow the link directing you to their site, you'll see the monariza.jpg (engrish, or sign of a hoax... your guess is as good as mine) Which is severely out of proportion but the later ones, especially the Mt. Fiji one seems almost designed for optimal viewing from that specific camera. Anyone here read Japanese? I hope the text under the "picture" doesn't read "Stupid People Think This is Real!"
posted by Debaser626 at 3:36 PM on July 20, 2007

Wow. They must plant that shit by hand--seed by seed. Oh my aching back...
posted by wafaa at 3:37 PM on July 20, 2007

I think Dennis Miller had the right idea about crop circles: "Aliens? No, Uncle Jeb with a weed whacker and an IV drip of grain alcohol."
posted by jonp72 at 3:40 PM on July 20, 2007

Very cool, but not as difficult as it looks. They could grid a copy of the artwork (stretched to allow for foreshortening), mark the land into correspondingly larger squares, and give strips of the small gridded copy to the planters. They're going to plant rice anyway, so apart from the design stage, it's not much more work--most of the squares are either all green or all purple.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:03 PM on July 20, 2007

Assuming this is real (I see the same POV issues that Debaser626 does, but I want to believe it's real) I wish more people around the world would take the time to make their living space more attractive and artistic.

Of course, I'm not sure what the equivalent would be for an urban area, other than graffiti; perhaps a coordinated effort to paint designs over the roofs of adjacent buildings, so that people in planes and viewing satellite photos can go "cool!"
posted by davejay at 4:16 PM on July 20, 2007

Not a hoax, Google image results for Inakadate.

Macro to micro.

Images of the locals in Inakadate planting the rice and other fruits of their labor.

And on that same PinkTentacle page there are marvelous YouTube videos of 1990'a Nissan Cup Noodles' ads. Very fun.
posted by nickyskye at 4:38 PM on July 20, 2007

It's real all right. Unfortunately, the webpage doesn't contain very much information. The village of Inakadate does this every year to attract tourists. It's in a neat part of Japan that's worth visiting if you have the time.

Inakadate
posted by KokuRyu at 4:39 PM on July 20, 2007

I'll believe it when I see it in google earth.

The new standard for judging reality.
posted by donovan at 4:51 PM on July 20, 2007

Never has something that looks so fake ended up being so real. It's like my brain won't let me believe it is actual.

I am impressed. (Also, don't hold me on that first sentence.)
posted by pokermonk at 5:20 PM on July 20, 2007

That rice has got snap. And pop!
posted by DenOfSizer at 6:06 PM on July 20, 2007

Awesome. I showed this to the mister and he's ready to jump in the car and take a road trip, which is shocking to me because in our 13 years here, we have rarely driven anywhere more than an hour away.

Thanks for reminding me about Pink Tentacle, too.
posted by squasha at 6:22 PM on July 20, 2007

The new standard for judging reality.

Yes, google earth is great. It also proved to me the existence of giant 50ft insects, which I would have laughed off without such evidence.
posted by IronLizard at 6:31 PM on July 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

Seriously cool.

What we need now is Irish Paddy art.
posted by bwg at 7:09 PM on July 20, 2007

I look forward to MIT messing one up as a prank.
posted by srboisvert at 10:51 AM on July 21, 2007

Check THIS out!
posted by phaedon at 7:47 AM on July 22, 2007