THE HAY?
WHAT
SHORT FILM
A
CELEBRATION IN
CENTRAL MONTANA
BY CINDY STILLWELL
Hay Daze is a micro film that visually documents the “What the Hay?” celebration in central Mon- tana. Each autumn hay growers memorialize cutting season by designing hay bale sculptures. The big, crazy bale sculptures are displayed right in their fields; a driving tour is really the best way to view each year’s creations. Hay Daze features super 8 footage of fantastical straw men, machines, and monsters.
DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL See Cindy’s film Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/haydaze113
A spare soundtrack uses only nature’s sounds from the hay fields, giving each setting a feeling, which is at once peaceful and eerie. The approach presents the hay bale sculptures so that they drift from comedic to horrific to head-scratching. The viewer is left to wonder at what strange compulsion prods people to sculpt works of folk art in, let’s face it, barnyard food. Or, maybe it is as Cha- gall has said: “Great art picks up where nature ends.” The “What the Hay” event is organized by the Hobson
Library/Museum and held annually the first Sunday after Labor Day in conjunction with the Utica Day Fair. Visit www.montanabaletrail.com.
HARVEST
OF AN ODD
96 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SUMMER 2011
