The following excerpt is based on my modest research about moving sand art. Because some of the facts are hidden in the dark of the pre-internet time I must tell the story based on the facts I found. I am pleased and thankful if you are able to add important details, such as the story of the kinetic art project in which Californian art students created the first dry moving sand art – or the British guy who produced sand art with water back in the 1970ies.
Predecessors
In the early 20th century the first patents for filling sand art similar to those of Andrew Clemens had been issued.
In the early 1960ies a patent for a DIY set was issued: two glass panes fixed in a wooden frame with the top side open could be filled with coloured sands. The results were basically dunes or landscapes. If you got tired of it, you could empty the frame and build a new one. Or you could fix your picture by filling glue on top.
The hour of birth
At the same time (I heard) a California university held an art contest about kinetic art. One student created a hourglass in 2-D. Two glass panes fixed in a frame with a barrier in the center which had a thin hole to let the sand move through like in a sand clock.
That probably was the first moving sand art.
Several colours
Wham-O the company known for inventing the Frisbee and other nice toys got the help of MIT physicist Ron L. Cloutier to develop the Magic Window, which Wham-O produced between 1971 and 1974. Between two sealed oval acrylic panes three different minerals were filled. When you turned the device, the colours started moving and separated because of their different densities. A marvellous toy.
With water
Also in the 1970ies the first moving sand art including water were developed. A British guy named David was the mastermind behind that invention. Unfortunately David passed away before he gave answers to my research. With or without a barrier in the center – the water slowed down the movement and enhanced the sedimentation of the minerals with different weights.
With the physical necessity that water evaporates, there was no other way than air intruded into those pictures which turned out to be a blessing, because the air slowed down the sand even more and the formations got even more spectacular.
Boom of the 1980ies
Between the early and mid 80ies the first boom of sandpictures took place. In Paris there was Cinemascope, a company employing 20 workers. According to a French guy who lived and sold sandpictures in Japan, the owner of that Paris factory passed in 1989. In 1986 a Taiwan based company got a US patent for a sandpicture including a clock. That company is still actively producing sandpictures. In Germany there was a company called ‘Sternschnuppe’ and another one called ‘Miracle Pictures’. In the US ‘Exotic Sands’ was established, a company which still is building and selling sandpictures. Besides that there were numerous garage productions, selling their output on street markets, mostly along beach promenades, where tourists had the feeling to buy part of their favourite beach in Italy, Spain, Miami and wherever. On of them was Juan from Barcelona, the only one who got my respect, because he knew how to create beautiful sandpictures made with 3 or 4 colours of finest grains. His sandpictures were outstanding beautiful compared to all others.
Hence Juan became my measuring scale.
