Photo: Mark Dahlager

President Obama’s birth certificate (or purported lack thereof) has been a central piece of rightwing agit-prop, but at the Minnesota State Fair’s crop art exhibit, it’s now a piece of agri-prop. 

Artist Mark Dahlager glued thousands of seeds to a board to create a facsimile of the famous document, adding the tagline “Move on #&%?! Birthers.” (See full sized view at bottom of post.)

Political themes have become a staple at the Fair’s crop art exhibit over the years, but Dahlager’s piece may break new ground by reproducing an actual government document.

Why did he do it? “I actually had another piece planned, but was increasingly irritated by the birther nut jobs and I guess that’s what inspired me,” Dahlager wrote in an email to the Minnesota Independent.

“It took me about 10 hours over 2 weeks — it’s not a technically very good piece (as evidenced by the lack of [an award] ribbon) — but I like it and I got to do a little spleen venting (which is good therapy).”

What does he think his crop art contributes to the debate over Obama’s birth certificate?

I would have to answer your debate question much like Barney Frank did during his recent town meeting. There really is nothing to debate and I have no interest in debating with the equivalent of a dining room table(s). It’s just an expression of my wonderment at a depth of ignorance that is unfathomable.

Photo: Molly Priesmeyer

The card visible at lower right in the photo is a required element of the fair’s crop art competition: a key listing each seed used in the artwork, along with a sample seed. Most categories of the contest require seeds to be from crops grown in Minnesota.

Dahlager (and indeed his family) is an inveterate crop artist, as evidenced by this bumper sticker:

See more political seed art at our Flickr page.

Related: Bachmann inspires seed art homages

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

ST. PAUL: Pawlenty’s talent agent returns to state payroll. The governor made former deputy chief of staff Bob Schroeder, who took a year off to book T-Paw for speeches and TV shows, his chief of staff. [Associated Press]

MINNEAPOLIS: Council quashing of park referendum imminent. The fight over a charter amendment granting the park board taxing authority will move to the courts. [Star Tribune]

RAMSEY COUNTY: Susan Gaertner “flabbergasted.” The county attorney and candidate for governor has seen it all, but the idea of moving her department to the crummy Metro Square building takes the cake. [St. Paul Pioneer Press]

HUTCHINSON: Like sister, like butter. With Elizabeth Olson’s ascension, one family is on its second Princess Kay of the Milky Way, and third finalist in the Minnesota State Fair contest. [West Central Tribune]

FRIDLEY: Seven mayors set to stay up on roof overnight. In a weeklong stunt next month the mayors of Blaine, Fridley, Ham Lake, Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids and Andover will raise money for local mental-health care that’s lacking due to budget cuts. [Blaine-Spring Lake Park Life]

STATE FAIR: Birth certificates are big. Obama’s is done in seed art, and man returns to his place of birth — the fair — with the certificate to prove it. [Molly Priesmeyer via Twitpic; KARE 11]