14 DAY TRIAL // People who fly across Argentina's Pampas lowlands for the first time stare in disbelief when they see this amazing guitar-shaped ranch in the middle of the fields, but they are even more amazed when they learn the story behind the stunning sight.
If you wonder how it got there, you should know that it is not the creation of Mother Nature, but of a loving widower. Argentine farmer Pedro Martin Ureta created the huge guitar made of 7,000 trees as a tribute to his late wife Graciela Yraizoz who loved the instrument and suggested that they should design their farmland in Laboulaye, Argentina to resemble a guitar.
When they were young, Pedro's wife Graciela took a small round-tour by plane above the local agricultural areas and she was impressed by the shapes of the neighboring properties from the air, as each of them seemed to resemble something different. When they flew over their property, Graciela noticed that it could almost distinguish the shape of a classic Spanish guitar.
Soon after this episode, Graciela died suddenly at the age of 25 after having developed a brain aneurysm, leaving Pedro inconsolable after the loss. In memory of his beloved wife, he decided to build this giant guitar in 1978 so that she could see it from heaven.
Cypress and eucalyptus tree were used to create the stunning work of art, and Pedro spent 35 years planting and nurturing the guitar-shaped forest. His creation is a great example of land art, in which forms are built into the natural environment, as he paid special attention to details, using blue eucalyptus trees to accent the strings on the neck of the guitar and creating a star-shaped hole in the middle as well.
According to most sources, the huge living instrument is 1,105 meters (3,625 feet) in length, 412 meters (1,351 feet) at the widest part and its center has a radius of 104 meters (341 feet).
Mr. Ureta's children say that when Graciela suggested they embed a guitar design on their farm, their father was too busy to take her plans seriously, but after that, he regretted not doing it while she was still alive. So after her death, he spent years cultivating the forest as a memorial to her and the entire family participated in the project, planting each of the 7,000 trees individually.
“It was the closest thing possible to having my mother alive,” Maria Julia, one of the couple's children, said.
Mr. Ureta himself has never seen his masterpiece from the sky, as he is afraid of flying. He only saw the result of his work in photographs.