Sand artist up against clock as tide threatens massive installation
2 Min Read
Chesterman Beach is "as good as it gets" for an artist who has created massive installations all over the world.
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Sand artist up against the clock as tide threatens massive installation
Jim Denevan is about as zen as it gets when it comes to an art project he's creating in Tofino, B.C.
Four months of painstaking planning and execution will be washed away by the Pacific Ocean.
But two days before it happens, he's still working away.
"It's a good life lesson," said the artist from Santa Cruz, California. "Nothing is permanent."
Denevan is a world-renowned artist who creates geometric sand paintings — called "land art" — that exist briefly before succumbing to the elements.
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Sand artist up against the clock as tide threatens massive installation.
For over a week, he's been toiling on Chesterman Beach, one of a handful of beaches that stretch along the west coast in Tofino.
Denevan has produced massive pieces, primarily out of the sand, in over 25 countries, including Spain, Russia, England, and Uruguay.
Many of his installations are commissions — he's created a giant alien for a kids' movie, the world's largest footprint for a boot manufacturer — but this Tofino project is a labor of love.
"It's as good as it gets for me," he said. "Typically when I draw in the sand, it lasts three to five hours then it washes away. But … I can work [here] for an entire week. There's an elevated platform, so the sand stays drawable."
He estimates a high tide will start erasing his composition — which will be 1,000 meters by 200 meters — on Saturday night. But that doesn't bother him one bit.
"This is a natural area, a beautiful, beautiful place," he said. "It would be tacky, bombastic, to put something very large here that lasted more than a few days."
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Sand artist up against clock as tide threatens massive installation.
As he works, tourists and locals stroll by — all surprised to happen upon Denevan and his work-in-progress.
"One thing that's fun about this particular location and a large artwork like this is that no one's expecting it," he said.
"People are just enjoying the day, they go for a walk. And the artwork is on the ground, not 100 feet tall. So it still feels gentle to them, not overwhelming. Even though the artwork is 1,000 meters."
