Per agent Janet Reid, who called her post “Stop what you’re doing and watch this” (a title which is hard to improve on, and I didn’t even try):
As Janet says, for some context you can read this blog post.
Ridiculous pursuits, matters solemn and less so
cynth says
Have you seen the other sand animations? The ones of the creation story and Noah’s ark? Those are simply amazing as well. Now I have to go look them up to see them again. How did they think of this the very first time? I wonder, was it an accident, an hourglass broke over an overhead? Anyway, thanks it was great!
cynth says
Okay, I went back to find the one I had seen about a zillion times: here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzu6bqG9gs
Oh, I screwed it up, I think…you really need to see it, it’s amazing!
Jules says
AMAZING. Wow.
And who knew there was a “Ukraine’s Got Talent”?
marta says
I have to tell you.
So, two weeks ago I ended up back in touch with my mom’s ex boyfriend. I blogged about him–his punching holes in the walls…
And so now we have exchanged a few emails and he has sent me pictures of my mother that I’d never seen.
And today, he sent me this very same video with the message that it made him think of my mother and me. So I didn’t watch the video because I was unsure what to expect.
Then I saw it here. I watched it here.
It is amazing. Lovely. There are no words.
I don’t know why this made him think of my mom and me. But I’m glad I saw the art.
Froog says
Another ‘Fantasy Girlfriend’!
Has she shown up on the American talk shows yet? Only a matter of time, I’m sure.
I wonder, will this usher in a transformation of the talent show genre? Or be its death knell?
John says
cynth: “An hourglass broke over an overhead” — ha, love that image. Like the artist was first all, “Oh dammit, now look what I’ve—” Then stops and says, “Whoa!”
Had never seen the creation one (and your link works just fine, btw). Also beautiful!
Jules: There was all that stuff a few months ago about… Susan Boyle, was that it? the Britain’s Got Talent winner? But I’ve never watched the US version of the show. Somehow, I don’t imagine a performance quite like this one getting far!
marta: That’s the kind of coincidence that makes people wonder if the world might have a lot more going on under the surface than otherwise appears to be true.
Froog: Since she doesn’t speak during the whole thing, perhaps she can’t (or maybe has an unattractive voice); it’s entertaining to imagine her answering talk-show questions by flinging sand or letting it trickle through her fingers in semantically significant ways.
All: There are a couple more videos of her on YouTube — really a two-parter, a story (which really is as good a word as “art”) totaling about 10-11 minutes. (And Froog, you get to see her in a different outfit and smiling a couple of times.) Both (as well as the one above) are here.
Froog says
Thanks for the new link, John. I’d already seen all her stuff on YouTube.
I have to say (hope my judgement isn’t being too compromised by the fact that she is so darned pretty!) that she does seem to me to be clearly a class above most of the other sand artists on YouTube.
I had assumed she probably didn’t speak English and would do the talk show circuit primarily as a performer (with perhaps just a brief bit of introductory chat through an interpreter). However, the notion of her being mute and communicating entirely with sand is strangely engaging.
On a related note, though not so emotionally charged, I came across this redneck art a while ago: someone doing a finger-painting on a red-checked plastic diner tablecloth – using barbecue sauce.