Calvin Seibert’s modernist sandcastles

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

I love these fleeting masterpieces from sand.

“I rarely start with a plan, just a vague notion of trying to do something different each time. Once I begin building and forms take shape I can start to see where things are going and either follow that road or attempt to contradict it with something unexpected.

“In my mind they are always mash-ups of influences and ideas. I see a castle, a fishing village, a modernist sculpture, a stage set for the oscars all at once.

“When they are successful they don’t feel contained or finished. They become organic machines that might grow and expand. I am always adding just one more bit and if time allowed I wouldn’t stop.”

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Calvin’s tools include a five-gallon plastic paint bucket and a few trowels he made from Plexiglas. He begins by scooping dry sand with his bucket into a mound at the high-tide mark, then fetches buckets of water from the ocean to flood the mound before kneading it into a muddy consistency.

The shaping process begins at the top to avoid dropping sand onto finished work below.

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Calvin Seibert sandcastle

Loads more castles on Flickr.

And some background over on the NYT site: King of the Sand Castle.

Via @feltron.


Comments

One response to “Calvin Seibert’s modernist sandcastles”

  1. Absolutely brilliant stuff!

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