Sand animation

Alexandra Konofalskaya performing sand animation.

Sand animation, also known as sand art, is a term which has two meanings. It is the name given to a style of live performance art and to a type of animation. In the former, 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 in the sand with one's hands. A sand animation performer will often use the aid of an overhead projector or lightbox (similar to one used by photographers to view translucent films). In the latter, animators move around sand on a backlighted or frontlighted piece of glass to create each frame for their animated films.

Origins

The technique was invented in 1968 by Caroline Leaf, who made her first film, Sand, or Peter and the Wolf, Harvard University. The short was made by dumping sand on a light box and manipulating the textures frame-by-frame.

Notable Artists

• Ferenc Cakó, from Hungary
• Su Dabao, from China
• Caroline Leaf, from Canada
• Kseniya Simonova, from Ukraine
• Ilana Yahav, from Israel
• Alexandra Konofalskaya, from Belarus

Films

• Sand, or Peter and the Wolf (1968) by Caroline Leaf
• The Sand Castle (1977) by Co Hoedeman
• Sesame Street (Sand Alphabet) (1974-1991)
• Tracks, a 2003 animated short
• 'This Week In News' 7.31.15 | MTV News by Charlene Lanzel

Software

Sand Magic - iOs application for creating sand animation.

External links

• An explanation of how to make animated films with sand animation
• Marcos Magalhães' "Animando" - a visual demonstration of how to make a sand animation (also features other animation types)
• Watch Caroline Leaf's film The Owl Who Married a Goose at NFB.ca
• Sand magic website