In class last Tuesday, Professor Smaldone mentioned a certain Japanese Sand Artist. Professor Smaldone’s reference to that artist reminded me of a certain artist that I came across on YouTube. This artist, Kseniya Simonova, uses sand to create a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table. The video below shows how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her art transforms the images into a film-like performance that captures each audience member. She ensnares each audience member as one can see the emotion that Simonova injects into each image she creates. Her energy intensifies with the story line of the story, as the crowd breaks down into tears viewing the emotional performance.
The piece below is extremely emotional and I recommend viewing it with the sound of the video.
I don’t know if I said the sand artist was Japanese, but that was wrong. This performance by Simonova is what I was referring to. Thanks for finding it and posting. It is an interesting thing that the art itself is not particularly “advanced” in a technical sense, but its emotional power is unmistakeable. The judge was crying! I know that I sometimes focus on some of the technical aspects, (I can’t help it, since it is such a significant part of what I do as a composer) but it is worth being reminded of the emotional power that is required of art.
It’s really a interesting form of art. It brings you both visual and auditory enjoyments. At the same time, it also provokes your emotion with the story of the animation. I really enjoy seeing the whole process of how the artist makes the sand animation. We usually only see the final work of a painting rather than the entire course of creating it. I would like to learn sand animation by myself if I have a chance.
I saw this video a while ago and it really stuck with me. Many posts have explored the way technology has advanced art and changed the face of the entire art industry. However, Kseniya Simonova almost seems to take art back in time. Using only sand and a light box, she creates beautiful emotionally charged pictures while telling the story of her history. I have blogged about several contemporary performance artists who try to push the artistic envelope with the use of technology, for example, Ryan Trecartin. However, often the meaning behind his work is masked by his dramatic artistic effects.
Simonova’s performance is so refreshing because of her clear to desire to give meaning to art. De Kooning’s work is full of emotion, but for the uneducated viewer, the implications behind his art is not obvious. Watching Simonova’s video, her artistic objective and talent are clear as day. Sometimes, less is definitely more.
I find this to be an awesome concept, one which takes a lot of creativity to come up with. Maybe it is just me, but when I look at sand, I don’t see it’s inherent ability to be a medium through which to express art. Yet the fluidity and manipulativeness of the sand makes it such an excellent and unique medium, especially when placed over a backlight as it was in the video. The creator of sand art must have seen it’s potential while walking on the beach, a feat that I can hardly imagine. I can’t see the natural potential of normal every day objects, let alone in something as nondescript as sand. What artists can do with things I hardly consider looking at never ceases to shock and amaze me. As we noted in class, an artist can see a pile of glass and instead of cleaning it up, may see beauty that would have otherwise been ignored. A post on the blog entitled “The World’s Largest Coffee Beans Mosaic” talks about a really beautiful and complex mosaic made of nothing but coffee beans. It really is a testament to the artists creative vision when they can use something so wildly out of the blue to make art and beauty. Anyone can paint with paint. But how many can say that they can paint with sand?