The agricultural fields of Pampas, Argentina are home to a group of trees that form the outline of a guitar when viewed from above.
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This guitar shaped farmland breaks up the repetitive agricultural landscape, and often surprises pilots and their passengers who chance upon the “guitar” while flying over the region.
While the average guitar is built using wood from a cut down tree, this giant “guitar” is formed using over 7,000 trees! The guitar’s body and neck are outlined by thousands of huge cypress trees, while eucalyptus trees form the guitar’s fretboard and strings. It even has a slim tapered headstock, star shaped soundhole and a bridge, all of which are outlined by cypress trees.
Obviously, this guitar shaped tree growth did not come about by mere chance, it was carefully designed, planned and implemented by the family that owns the farmland. Even more interesting than the special guitar shape is the touching story behind this loving memorial – that of a husband and his children paying tribute to his late wife.
The story goes that during a flight over the Pampas, Pedro Martin Ureta’s wife, Graciela Yraizoz, noticed a farm that resembles a milking pail. This gave her the idea to purposefully embed a visual design into their farmland, in order for them to standout from the monotonous agricultural area. She suggested that they grow trees that form an image of her favorite instrument right inside their farm – the image of a guitar.
Mr. Ureta was busy with work at the time, so he did not take any action to implement Graciela’s suggestion. Tragically, his wife who was only 25 at the time, unexpectedly died of cerebral aneurysm. This unfortunate event was made even worse because Pedro regretted not taking Graciela’s idea seriously while she was still alive.
A few years after Graciela’s untimely passing, Pedro finally started working on his wife’s guitar “land art” idea and he decided to do the design himself. During the initial stages, he studied the proportions of a guitar and took measurements. He then blew up the proportions to create a guitar that is over 1 Km long and formed entirely of trees.
While building land art projects were not particularly difficult, the decision to use trees instead of the usual rocks required tremendous amount of time and dedication. The tree planting became a family project, of which over 7000 trees were painstakingly planted to precise positions with the help of the children. In addition to careful planting, the family also faced other challenges which include sapling care, protection from pests that damage the plants and trees, as well as maintenance and cultivation. And all of this were being done on top of the already difficult task of living normally and raising kids without their mother.
Today, the result of their loving effort is viewable by planes and satellites. The kids and their father, who have grown alongside the trees, were proud of the special guitar memorial they cultivated for Graciela. One of the their children even mentioned that the trees were like a mother to them. Ironically, Pedro Ureta, who is now over 70, only sees the beautiful aerial view of his guitar farm via pictures because he is afraid of flying.
Go to Google Earth to view the guitar shaped farmland as photographed via satellite.
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