NGV 150th

On sunday i worked at the NGV's 150th anniversary celebration. Even though i was working for Beatbox kitchen i arrived early so i could check out what was going on. Directly in front of the truck was a couple who were completing a sand carving. It was of a sculpture that the NGV own but i didn't know the name of. I spoke to the couple who seemed to be of foreign decent, they were such an excited pair of artists, they loved there work and were very fun to listen to while they worked. He spoke of how the sand was compacted to a certain level to let them work to a certain level of detail. He used the terms soft packed and hard packed. Hard packed was how the sand arrived on the site and what they worked from where as soft packed was what would be used when a repair was needed on mistake when he may have over carved or something fell off or cracked. He spoke of a job where by he was working on a project that included wings. These wings kept slightly breaking so he kept having to add soft packed sand to keep them a like, this stopped working so the wings each day they were repaired got smaller and smaller until the last day it was on show at this festival they were a third of the original size! The couple used many different tools to create different lines and to make it accurate in comparison to the drawing they were working from. It seemed as if they were paving and building at the same time. They used paving tools to smooth surfaces, for example a trailer and the pointy trailer. Then they were using spirit levels to make sure that the block of sand that the sculpture was carved out of was square so it didn't take away from the sculpture.
This was the first time i had seen sand sculptures in action and i can't wait to see more. It was very exciting to witness a form of art that isn't permanent. For me i feel that if i am going to produce some art and/or design i would like it to be permanent. I feel that all the effort i have put into the work i would like it to be appreciated long into the future rather than just for that day. Even though their work was phenomenal i personally couldn't work in that field not only due to the longevity of their art but also having your body constantly covered in sand. I hate sand on my body!