![Sandcastle, Dover Castle (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Sandcastle%2C_Dover_Castle_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Sand art is the practice of modelling sand into an artistic form, such as sand brushing, sand sculpting,
sand painting
Sandpainting is the art of pouring coloured sands, and powdered pigments from minerals or crystals, or pigments from other natural or synthetic sources onto a surface to make a fixed or unfixed sand painting. Unfixed sand paintings have a long es ...
, or creating
sand bottles. A sandcastle is a type of sand sculpture resembling a miniature
building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
, often a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
. The drip castle variation uses wet sand that is dribbled down to form organic shapes before the sands dries.
Most sand play takes place on
sandy beaches, where the two basic building ingredients,
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
and
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
, are available in abundance. Some sand play occurs in dry
sandpit
A sandpit (most Commonwealth countries) or sandbox (US and Canada) is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with soft (beach) sand in which children can play. Sharp sand (as used in the building industry) is not suitable for su ...
s and sandboxes, though mostly by children and rarely for art forms. Tidal beaches generally have sand that limits height and structure because of the shape of the sand grains. Good sculpture sand is somewhat dirty, having
silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...
and
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
that helps lock the irregular-shaped sand grains together.
Sand castles are typically made by children for fun, but there are also sand-sculpture contests for adults that involve large, complex constructions. The largest sandcastle made in a contest was 18 feet tall; the owner, Ronald Malcnujio, a five-foot-tall man, had to use several ladders, each the height of the sandcastle. His sculpture consisted of one ton of sand and 10 litres of water to sculpt.
Sand castles and sculptures
![Kleckerburg1 2006 08](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Kleckerburg1_2006_08.jpg)
Sand grains will always stick together unless the sand is reasonably fine. While dry sand is loose, wet sand is
adherent if the proper amounts of sand and water are mixed. The reason for this is that water forms little "bridges" between the grains of sand when it is damp due to the forces of
surface tension
Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. water striders) to f ...
.
When the sand dries out or gets wet, the shape of a structure may change, and "
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
s" are common. A mix of fine (mostly sharper) and coarse sand granules is very important to achieve good "sand construction" results. Fine granules that have been rounded by the natural influences of
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
s,
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
s or
fluvial
In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...
s, in turn negatively influence the bonding between the individual granules as they more easily slide past each other.
Shovels and buckets are the main construction tools used in creating sand castles and sand sculptures, although some people use only their hands. A simple sand castle can be made by filling a bucket with damp sand, placing it upside-down on the beach, and removing the bucket. For larger constructions, water from the sea to mix with the sand can be brought to the building site with a bucket or other container. Sometimes
forms
Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.
Form also refers to:
*Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
* ...
of other materials, such as wood or plastic are constructed to hold piles of sand in place and in specific shapes.
Tunnels large enough to enter are extremely hazardous; children and adults die every year when such underground chambers collapsed under weight and instability of sand, or due to the tide coming up or the structure being hit by a wave. Sometimes, a
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
can be built to hold back the water, tidal forts, which are incredibly large sandcastles with thick walls to protect the keep from the sea, can be built, or canals can be dug to contain the water.
A variant to a formed sculpture is the drip castle, made by dribbling very wet sand.
Sand sculpting as an art form has become popular in coastal beach areas. Hundreds of annual competitions are held all over the world. Techniques can be quite sophisticated, and record-breaking achievements have been noted in the ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. Sometimes, contests are staged as advertising or promotional events. Most sand sculptors come from other disciplines but a few earn their living solely from sand-related activities.
Notable sand sculpture artists include
Sudarsan Pattnaik
Sudarsan Pattnaik (born 15 April 1977) is an Indian sand artist from Puri, Odisha. In 2014, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, for his seashore sand arts.
Early life and backgrou ...
and
M N Gowri
Gowri MN (born 30 August 1989) is an Indian sand artist from Mysore, Karnataka who has been working with sand for over seven years. She is the only female sand sculpture artist in India.
Early life and background
Gowri has an MFA in sculpture f ...
who created the
Mysore Sand Sculpture Museum
Mysore Sand Sculpture Museum is the first sand sculpture museum in India, located in Mysore, Karnataka. It was inaugurated in 2014, with 150 sand sculptures on display, on a one-acre land at the base of Chamundi Hills. Each of the sculptures wa ...
.
Festivals and competitions
![Sand Sculpture Festival 2011 Taiwan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Sand_Sculpture_Festival_2011_Taiwan.jpg)
From 1989 until 2009, a World Championship in Sand Sculpture was held in
Harrison Hot Springs
The Village of Harrison Hot Springs is a small community at the southern end of Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. It is a member of the Fraser Valley Regional District; its immediate neighbour is the District of Kent and i ...
in
Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada, also known as "Harrisand". The competition had solo, double and team categories. The world championship was held in Ft. Myers, Florida, and other venues for a limited time. Other countries hold their own versions of the world championships as it is not possible to get all the people who may qualify in the same place at the same time due to the expense and logistics.
The world's tallest sand castle was built on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina by Team Sandtastic as part of the 2007 Sun Fun Festival. The structure was 49.55 feet (15.1 m) high. It took 10 days to construct and used 300 truckloads of sand. This record was broken in 2019 when a 58-feet tall sand castle was unveiled at Rügen in Germany. The tallest-ever sand castle was built by a group of international artists and was constructed with 11,000 tons of sand.
Since 2003,
Bettystown
Bettystown (), previously known as Betaghstown and transliterated to ''Beattystown/Bettystown'', is a village in an area known as East Meath within County Meath, Ireland. Together with the neighbouring villages of Laytown and Mornington it c ...
beach,
Meath in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
has been home to the Irish annual National
Sandcastle
Sand art is the practice of modelling sand into an artistic form, such as sand brushing, sand sculpting, sand painting, or creating sand bottles. A sandcastle is a type of sand sculpture resembling a miniature building, often a castle. The dr ...
and Sand Sculpturing competition.
In
Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, there is an annual tourist sight called the Sandcastle (''Hiekkalinna''), where a work of art made of sand according to a changing theme is created every year.
The record for the number of individual sandcastles built in one hour, was set at
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, England, on 18 August 2012. Four hundred people constructed 683 castles, with each being two feet wide and high, accompanied by four turrets.
Play
One of the main attractions of a sandy beach, especially for children, is playing with the sand; it presents more possibilities than an ordinary sandbox. One can make a mountain, a
pit (encountering
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
or the
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
), canals, tunnels, bridges, a sculpture (representing a person, animal, etc., like a statue, or a
scale model
A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...
of a building), amongst many other things.
Burying someone up to their neck in sand or burying oneself in such a manner is another popular beach activity.
Sand angels
![Ludington Sand Angels 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Ludington_Sand_Angels_2017.png)
Sand angels are made in the same manner as
snow angel
A snow angel is a design, made in fresh snow, by lying on one's back and moving one's arms up and down, and one's legs from side to side, to form the shape of an angel.
Technique
The creation of the snow angel is a simple process. The first s ...
s; a person lies on their back in the sand, extending their arms and legs and swishes them back and forth.
The
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the most simultaneous sand angels made at one time was done in
Ludington, Michigan
Ludington ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Mason County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,076.
Ludington is a harbor town located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette Rive ...
, on June 10, 2017. It was performed by 1,387 sand angel people at the same time, almost four times the previous record of 352 made in
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park occu ...
, on June 6, 2015. The duration they lasted making sand angels was for 30 seconds—twice as long as the 15 seconds at Pembrokeshire.
Fight against the tide
A popular game is building a heap of sand, as high as possible, to withstand the upcoming tide.
File:Opkomend tij in Cadzand (1).JPG, A sandcastle with a moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
, at low tide
File:Opkomend tij in Cadzand (2).JPG, The sea moving in to surround the castle
File:Opkomend_tij_in_Cadzand_(3).jpg, The castle as an island
Sand art
Sand raking and beach murals
![Rake Art Ecrehous 0136](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Rake_Art_Ecrehous_0136.jpg)
''Sand raking'' is performed on a sandy beach where the artist rakes the dry top layer of sand, exposing the wet underlayer to create light-and-dark contrasts. Usually the designs are quite large and are similar to man-made art
crop circles. The designs are ephemeral, and wash away with the next tide.
A Man Takes A Single Rake To The Beach. And When You Zoom Out And See It… Mind BLOWN.
/ref> Some notable artists working in this medium include Andres Amador
Andres Amador is an American artist, known for his large-scale organic sand drawings.
Early years
He grew up in San Francisco and received a BA in Environmental Science. He joined the Peace Corps and then became a computer technician. In 1999, h ...
, Sean Corcoran
Sean Corcoran MIDI (born 8 July 1969) is an Irish visual artist noted for his stained glass, mosaics, wooden sculpture, and sand art.
Career
In more recent years Corcoran has exhibited his work in digital art, photography, and mapmaking. He als ...
and Marc Treanor.
Other
A sand glass is a display in which there are multiple colors of sand in water between two sheets of glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
. Unlike sand paintings
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of ...
, a sand glass is meant to be turned; the sand, traditionally in black and a light color, moves into new shapes with each turn. The term "sand glass" is a translation of the Portuguese phrase ''quadro de areia'', literally "sand frame" or "sand picture". Unlike sand paintings, which are a traditional craft, these are found around the world in many colors and sizes.
Sandpainting
Sandpainting is the art of pouring coloured sands, and powdered pigments from minerals or crystals, or pigments from other natural or synthetic sources onto a surface to make a fixed or unfixed sand painting. Unfixed sand paintings have a long es ...
is the art of pouring colored sands and other pigments onto a surface to make a painting.
Sand bottles are created by pouring colored sands into a bottle to make a scene.
Sand drawing
Sand drawing (or sandroing in Bislama)["Sandroing"](_blank)
Vanuatu ...
is the creation of a drawing by scratching it out in a flat base of sand.
Sand animation
Sand animation is the manipulation of sand to create animation. In performance art an artist creates a series of images using sand, a process which is achieved by applying sand to a surface and then rendering images by drawing lines and figures ...
is the making of animation by manipulating sand to build figures, textures and movement, frame by frame.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sand Art And Play
Leisure activities
Outdoor sculptures
Sculpture techniques
Beaches