by Paolo Foschini
The world’s largest corn maze was created on a teaching farm in Illinois, with an eleven-acre design that — only visible from the plane, but walkable by all paths — pays homage to James Bond 60 years after its release Kill
Imagine creating a drawing the size of a 11 hectare field. And then seed the lines and figures of this drawing with great precision. And then wait the months it takes for that corn to grow and finally clean up the paths – let’s call them that – you didn’t sow. The result, if you were very good, can be a field of corn like you see in the photo. Tribute to James Bond made on an Illinois farm to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the legendary agent’s first film, License to Kill (1962): The World’s Largest Corn Maze and they did it at Spring Grove, Richardson Adventure Farm.
The drawing perfectly recognizes the five actors who, during these sixty years of James – as the work is titled – have lent their faces to the most famous spy in history: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig. Of course there’s an Aston Martin, the Monaco Casino in the background and a Bond girl in the middle of the field. “We’re fans of 007 and love all of his films,” said George Richardson, 69, who runs the farm with his wife Wendy, son George and brother Robert. Her other passion, check it out, is corn mazes.
They do one every year: every winter – says George – we think about what will be the theme of the new season. When Chicago sports teams have accomplished something spectacular, we celebrate it because customers and the media appreciate it. When this doesn’t happen, we look for anniversaries of great things. Which of course never fails. But they also have to have the right image potential in order to create a big picture. James Bond clearly has all of those ingredients.
Not just a manual activity: creativity and cutting-edge technology are required. Straight faces are difficult to seed because a portrait becomes so large that you can only see it from the plane. You need software to design them to scale and translate them on site. It needs a GPS connected to a computer and the seeding units. And an accurate calculation of growing times. After the corn is about 4 feet high – explains George – we run the tiller along the edges of the figures to clearly define the paths and walk them comfortably.
Among the Richardson family’s earlier masterpieces is a giant corn head dedicated to The Beatles: we made it in 2013 and celebrated 50 years since their debut with Love Me Do. And the tones of the tune were carved into the corn.
September 27, 2022 (Change September 27, 2022 | 18:04)
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