Field of Corn

Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees) is a concise example of one of Cochran's outdoor commissions. The site chosen for the piece by Dublin, OH was a large traffic island, cut off from neighborhood subdivisions by two roads. In researching the site, Cochran discovered that the land had been farmed fo 1800 years and had been owned by a leading corn hybridizer in the 1940s and '50s. To honor this endeavor, Cochran placed 109 concrete ears of corn, each approximately six feet high, into the ground in even rows. The resulting piece refers naturally to a cornfield, but closely resembles the identical white grave markers in Arlington National Cemetery. Cochran finished the piece by creating a row of text panels that explain the history of corn production and set them among Osage orange trees that existed as part of the site and were traditionally used as windbreaks and field dividers. From Malcolm Cochran [re] collection, 1999.