When discussing the Arts in NYC blog in our Honors 125 class, this video immediately came to mind. I was never aware that a form of art called “Sand Animation” existed, until someone in the YouTube community decided to share this video with me. After falling in love with its charming and aesthetic features, I now wish for more people to do the same.
This video features Kseniya Simonova, a sand animator, who shares a visualization of the impact World War II had on the Ukraine and Russia. Her tale begins by lighting a candle – a symbol that a journey through the country’s memory has begun. Through the different scenes she “paints,” repeated emotions are reflected: hope for loved ones to return from war, devastation from unanswered letters and endless battle, and immortal affection for family and the homeland.
We can learn about history from reading textbooks and online articles, but we can learn so much more through those who experienced it firsthand. Not only does the human contact give us different approaches to historical situations, but it also unveils emotions that perhaps could not be detected through text. Artist, such as Kseniya Simonova, can do the same through visualization.
More information about the video can be found here.
– Alexandra Nicoletti
I think this sand animation video was one of the most touching and amazing videos I have ever seen. It effectively and creatively tells of the grievances and sadness that results from war. The combination of the sand animations, the music, and the artist’s movements and intensity made the whole thing an experience. I wish I was there. Art like this can tell the story much better than anything else.
~Shirley Mak
I’ve seen this. Amazing and expressive as both a visual art and as a “performance.” Of course, artists such as this complicate our job by occupying the fringe areas of art and the “no man’s land” between genres. Is this a performance? or a visual art work? How could an artist like this “sell” her work? She is not the first artist to explore and stretch boundaries, but artists such as this serve a larger purpose in showing us where those boundaries are and challenging us as viewers to explore and react to them.
I can’t believe how such a simple concept like playing with sand can turn into something so complex and beautiful. Each scene that the artist created was a work of art, and the fact that she kept changing the picture made it feel like watching a movie. I did not expect to feel so many different emotions while watching this.