Crop art is not a funny business.
This year we decided not to choose the best crop artworks, as the judges do, but the funniest. Crop art, which is art made from seeds, beans and plant parts, is a pretty absurd concept and naturally lends itself well to humor. Some crop artists use puns to make fun of crop art, while others use the medium to joke about other topics, such as cats, corn cobs, politics, art and bad drivers.
This year, the 354 plant artworks cover three walls instead of just one in the Agriculture and Horticulture Building.
Here are the top 10 funniest crop artworks in no particular order.
(Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Corn Cobs vs Pronto Pups
Meredith Keller of East Bethel offers her comical take on the battle between Pronto Pups and good old corn dogs, framing the fierce confrontation in the style of an old western showdown. The two dogs stare each other down against a canyon in the background, ready to brawl. Pronto Pups and corn dogs are both batter-fried hot dogs on a stick. However, prontos are saltier while corn dogs are sweeter, and corn dogs have a cornbread batter while prontos have a thinner and crispier pancake batter. Only you can determine the real winner!
Cindy Jiban of St. Paul pokes fun at anti-abortion posters in Minnesota. In her work, a small plant sprouts from the ground, holding a baby bottle filled with milk and looking innocent with its big brown eyes. The small seeds she used for this artwork could have grown into real plants.
Heather Rheingans of Fridley replaces a person’s head with a humpback anglerfish, a fearsome-looking deep-sea species that lives in the darkest corners of the ocean. The human-fish situation might make you even more dizzy than crop art!
