A CRACK
IN THE
HOURGLASS
FEATURES Pandemic Portraits
A MAKER
FAMILY IN
LOCKDOWN
HELPS TO
ENGINEER A
MEMORIAL
COVID
ARTWORK
In A Crack in the Hourglass, a media artwork by
Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer,
people are invited to submit a photograph and story
of a loved one lost during Covid. Over a period of
about 40 minutes a modified robotic plotter draws
the image of the loved one using hourglass sand.
Once the drawing is complete and after a short
pause, a mechanism gently tilts the platform and
the sand falls away. Then the machine begins to
draw another portrait. The process is broadcast
live, showing the robotic arm drawing each
portrait.The numbers of Covid deaths are no longer
abstract; they are tangibly represented in the
portraits of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters.
Our family had a unique window into the creative
process behind A Crack in the Hourglass.Back in
March 2020, when the pandemic abruptly shut
everything down, our family became shut-ins and
our home-work-school-hobby worlds collided.
My husband, Stephan Schulz, is head of R&D
Written by Jennifer Dorner and Stephan Schulz
14 makezine.com
M82_014-17_SandPortraits_F1.indd 14M82_014-17_SandPortraits_F1.indd 14 7/11/22 12:29 PM7/11/22 12:29 PM
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