Sand Etching
Jean-Pierre Hebert, 1998

Links
movies
http://jeanpierrehebert.com
http://dam.org/hebert
http://www.mathematica-journal.com
Later works

"Sisyphus" is the first generation of Herbert's sand etchings, a drawing device resembling the Japanese Zen garden and Haiku poetry tradition. A steel ball moves through a box filled with sand leaving a trace behind creating beautiful drawings of geometric ornaments - interlocking spirals and twirling patterns of hexagons. "The system uses two servomotors, and a magnet. The magnet travels around the box along a series of cables, driven by algorithmic formulas in a software program Hébert has written."

I found the work interesting because of the cross palette of various media the artist works in.Inspired by Japanese Zen gardens , Tibetan mandalas, Navajo paintings and by more recent work by Andy Goldsworthy and Michael Heizer. Also, with the mechanics hidden out of the way, in its still state, the work authentically could be believed to be any of the above. "We can't just look at our monitors all the time", the ball's movement in the sand reminds me of the mouse hide function and programming a movie clip to leave a trace behind. The artist also follows the karensansui tradition and after the drawing is completed, clears the sand.

Submitted by
Katalin Banlaki

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