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The origins of sand sculptures
It’s said, even 3000 years B.C. the Egyptian architects used models made of sand to present their intended giant buildings to the pharaos. If that’s true? Fact is that the development of sand sculptures as an art form had its origin in the United States of America. It was there, where in the beginning of the 20th century numerous competitions and festivals have been organized. The stages were the beaches of Florida and California. In the process, the artists experimented with different kinds of sand and techniques. In that way, it became not only possible to enhance the artistic quality, but made possible in the first place the erection of giant sculptures.
What moves us in sand
Each of us used to play with sand, when he or she was a child – everywhere in the world. That’s why we only associate amazing memories with sand. It’s self-evident, when all the daddies in the world build up sandcastles in the beach with their kids. So do we, the carvers, - just bigger, higher and more detailed.
What is a carver
The sand sculptors call themselves “carver” from the verb “to carve”. And isn’t there a carver in each of us? We just don’t remember when we grow up. But we could come back to that, just having a good command of the following:
a certain technique
patience
and curiosity, to continuously experiment with the material sand.
Material sand
Sand is a fascinating construction material. You can do almost everything in sand: the replica of a building, animals, persons, even complete cities or landscapes in all possible forms and combinations. The only thing you need is the right sort of sand. We use for our sculptures natural untreated sand with all additives that mother earth gave to it. First, the sand has to be sifted to remove pebbles and bigger stones, until you have a grain size of 0-2 mm. We always attend to find this sand close to our site to avoid expensive transportation. But that’s not always possible.
Techniques
The sand is mixed with water and compacted in wooden forms, whether using machine rammers or manual tampers. Only by this compacting, it is possible to build up sand sculptures of 10 or more meters. The general way of construction is like a pyramid, because otherwise you wouldn’t fit the static necessities. After removing the wooden forms, the carver has a block of sand, which can be treated. He works like a sculptor and always from top to ground, for you cannot step on the upper parts again, once they are finished.
Nothing but sand and water
Because of the described structure of the sand, there is no necessity of chemical additives as binding material. We only use water. After finishing the sculpture, we fix the surface with proteins (gluten) to avoid the rippling of the sand and to protect the sculpture against rain.
So, our sand sculptures are really environment-friendly and, after having finished the event, easy to dispose. The sculpture is really resistant, even outdoor. At the beaches of North and Baltic Sea, in Zeebrugge or Travemünde, sculptures of up to 20 m height did resist 5 or 6 weeks, despite of sometimes disadvantageous atmospheric conditions. Anyhow, if there is some damage, it can be repaired, or the damaged part of the sculpture is removed and redone. Indoor, our sculptures resist for more than a year.
The most frequently heard objection against sand sculptures: And if it is raining? Rain doesn’t do a harm, it is absorbed by the sand. The only natural enemy are seabirds, which like to settle down on the tops and edges of the sculpture. We avoid this by using bird wire, known also from “regular” buildings.
Tools
The straw is the most important tool for carvers. He uses it to blow off loose sand grains. Otherwise, all conceivable kinds of tools are applied. ranging from brick trowels to fine scalpels. Even horse combs (to imitate the grain of wood) are used. Among the carvers, there is an active exchange about which tools for which purpose … but others prefer to keep their secrets.
Carvers’ language
Over the intervening years, there was established a real jargon, which is absolutely necessary, because the carvers come from all over the world. English is a must, how else should there be a conversation between an American carver and his colleague from Asia? Here are just a few samples for the “carvers’ language”:
| carving: |
to cut the sand |
| carver: |
artist who builds sand sculptures |
| compacting: |
to compress the sand using water and tampers |
| cut through: |
an opening, e.g. a gate or an arch. Difficult to build in sand because it easily breaks. |
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