Remembering lower Manhattan, pre-9/11

Agnes Denes, Wheatfields for Manhattan 

5/1/1982-9/30/1982

The artist and her assistants planted and harvested 1.5 acres of wheat at the Battery Park Landfill. The planting consisted of digging 285 furrows by hand, clearing off rocks and garbage, and then placing the seeds by hand and covering the furrows. Each furrow took two to three hours. Denes and her assistants maintained the field for four months, set up an irrigation system, weeded, put down fertilizers, cleared off rocks, boulders and wires by hand, and sprayed against mildew. On August 16th, Denes harvested the crop, yielding almost 1000 pounds of healthy, golden wheat. More about the project.