Sandbox Original

Sand and wind have expressive features, that can be experienced in its purest form in a desert landscape. The wind has free play with the loose sand that creates a vivid spectacle of ever changing formations. Sandbox (2009) is a diorama in which a sand bed is continuously transformed by means of wind. This process is visible for the audience through a small window. There is no intention of simulating a down-scaled version of an existing desert, but to build a generative system in which concrete materials like sand and wind are the shaping elements. By locking up these elements in a box an imaginary sight is created, a glimpse of a world where another climate prevails. A black box is standing on four metal legs. A window opening is located at the front, through which the spectator can watch while sitting on a stool. Inside the box the basic facilities are installed: 200 kilograms of sea sand, 50 fans, electronics and lighting. The sand is scattered over the bottom, the fans are split in nine rows that hang in the upper part of the box. In between the sand and the fans, a strip ceiling is hiding the fans from view. The LED-lights at the back wall provide a floodlight on the sand surface. All the fans are switched on and off individually by a special algorithm. One can see rushing particles and sand drifts generating typical slopes. Now and then dust devils or avalanches will appear, or lees where lightweight particles seem to dance over the solid surface.