Seventeen Hundred Seeds

2012 Projects

        Seventeen Hundred Seeds

          March 15 - June 30, 2012

      A temporary site-specific land art project, a collaboration between Robert Hamilton and Cynthia Mulcahy,
          located in an empty 1.6-acre lot in the middle of the city of Dallas.

Seventeen Hundred Seeds installation team: Juan Cano, Chanito, Efren Gutierrez, Robert Hamilton, Cynthia Mulcahy, Courtney Rainwater, Jose Tinajero and Jose Villa.

Located in the busy heart of Oak Cliff off a well-traveled car and pedestrian street, the public art project

Seventeen Hundred Seeds has been on view since field preparation began March 15th, offering up a daily tableau

of the farmer's life of tilling and seed planting, weeding and watering, and finally harvesting and sharing.

Project information flyer located at the site:

           Seventeen Hundred Seeds field at peak, May 2012.



Seventeen Hundred Seeds full Press Release:

      The public art project Seventeen Hundred Seeds, a collaboration between Robert Hamilton and Cynthia Mulcahy,
      is a temporary site-specific land art project in an empty 1.6 acre lot in the heart of South Dallas.

      It all began on a late Friday afternoon in March with the debris-clearing and mowing of a large, empty field
      in preparation for a second day of tractor-tilling and prepping of the soil for planting. Finally, in advance
      of an obliging Texas rainstorm, over seventeen hundred seeds were individually planted by an eight-member crew
      in a uniform grid pattern. The seeds, all Aztec Gold sunflowers, will grow to heights of five to seven feet with
      ample eleven-inch flower heads by mid-May.

      Located in the busy heart of Oak Cliff off a well-traveled car and pedestrian street, the public art project has
      been on view since field preparation began March 15th, offering up a daily tableau of the farmer's life of land
      tilling and seed planting, weeding and watering, and finally harvesting and sharing.

      The activity in the empty lot, a form of artistic intervention or farming as street theater, has drawn many area
      neighbors, passersby, and local business folk curious about what’s going on in their community. “You don’t often
      see a tractor tilling soil in the city,” the very first visitor declared. Others have shared their knowledge of
      the history of the land, even family photographs, or memories of flower gardens in their native Mexico. With our
      farm crew in the field, laughs and stories have been swapped over as many tacos and beer during weeks of crop
      cultivation. All are part of the process.

      Seventeen Hundred Seeds remains on view to humans, insects and animals through June and is free and open to the
      public. A public picnic reception in the field, also free, will be held on Saturday, May 19th, from 6:30pm to
      8:30pm, at 715 W. Davis Street, Dallas, Texas, 75208.

      Seventeen Hundred Seeds is generously underwritten by Courtney Rainwater. Land is provided by Rick Garza,
      Bishop/Davis LLC. Water provided by Juan Pablo Segura of Familia Auto Sales. Farming consultation provided by
      Mulcahy Farms, graphic design by Lily Smith-Kirkley and planting blueprint by landscape designer Kelley Murry.

      Installation/Maintenance Crew
      Juan Cano
      Chanito
      Efren Gutierrez
      Robert Hamilton
      Cynthia Mulcahy
      Courtney Rainwater
      Jose Tinajero
      Jose Villa

      Graphic Design/Landscape Design Crew
Lily Smith-Kirkley
      Kelley Murry

      Project Documentation
      Robert Hamilton

1700 Seeds Crew

May 19th reception in the field.