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Greatest Farmer Ever Plows Prince's Symbol Into His Corn Field

Hanson, a 75-year-old retiree, decided to plow a large field on his property into the shape of the so-called “love symbol,” the one that Prince used in lieu of a name.
Photo via Facebook user Gene Hanson

A field in North Dakota formerly known as Gene Hanson's corn field has become an impromptu art installation in honor of the recently deceased musical artist who for some time in the '90s went by the name The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

Hanson, a 75-year-old retiree, decided to plow a large field on his property into the shape of the so-called "love symbol," the one that Prince used in lieu of a name. Prince adopted the symbol after he became embroiled in a contract dispute with Warner Brothers, his record label at the time. In 1993, he changed his stage name to the unpronounceable symbol and released several albums under it. But by the year 2000, he was using the name "Prince" again.

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And now the symbol lives on—at least for a very short time, until the corn comes in—in a field in North Dakota. (The farmer who rents Hanson's land is already starting to plant.)

READ MORE: A Look Back on Prince's Love of Dunk-a-Roos and Mustard

Hanson often plows messages into his fields, things like "Happy Easter" or "Happy Mother's Day," but this time he got a little more creative. Referring to the love symbol, Hanson told the Grand Forks Herald, "I thought to myself, maybe I should try something like that." Then he hopped in his tractor and set to work. "I didn't tell anyone I was going do it, I didn't even tell my wife I was going to do it. But it's been fun."

How does one plow an intricate symbol into a corn field? Not without some difficulty. First, Hanson found a copy of the symbol online and printed it out. "I don't have a cab on my tractor. I just have a three-point disk in the back," he said. "I taped that little sign on the hood of the tractor and just went by that."

Hanson is fortunate enough to have a small airplane. When the plowing was done, he hopped into the plane and surveyed the results of his creative vision. A quick photo revealed it was good. Very good.

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"I couldn't believe it myself that it turned out so well," he said. "I was probably the most surprised. This one just happened to turn out first try."

Hanson must be a big Prince fan, don't you think?

Not really, he says. "I like the song 'Purple Rain.' I'm normally country western. I guess everyone's a fan of Prince right now, since he passed away. I guess that's how life goes."

Profound words from a true earth artist, in our opinion.