There were also physical and technological
hurdles to overcome, including humidity; dry
conditions caused static electricity to accumulate
in the very fine sand, which clogged the tubing.
Many plastic and glass vessels were tested until
a method of depositing the free-flowing fine sand
onto the surface was found, but they still needed
to figure out how to do this in a fluid manner.
Eventually the AxiDraw in combination with
Gregg Wygonik’s SquiggleDraw algorithm (github.
com/gwygonik/SquiggleDraw) achieved finer
control of the gradient values to display a greater
grayscale range. This was made possible by
controlling the amplitude of plotted sine waves
based on the image brightness, which created
thicker or thinner deposits of sand. The portraits
were strikingly recognizable (Figure
C
).
Other open source tools used in the project
were openFrameworks, ofxArenaFueraDelReloj
library, JavaScript, FFmpeg, and OBS.
DUST TO DUST
Rafael had the idea to use hourglass sand for its
fine consistency and its ability to achieve greater
definition. An hourglass uses a fixed quantity
of sand to measure the ephemerality of time.
Similarly, in this artwork the sand is recycled
for each rendition. Rafael explains, “All of the
portraits so far, hundreds of them, are made with
the same small amount of sand. And for me, that
was really important because it was a sense of
universal solidarity around this, and a sense of
connection.”
The first iteration was produced as an
online exhibition for the Museo Universitario
Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City,
launched in November 2020. The machine itself
was installed at the Antimodular studio with
two cameras broadcasting the action live. The
apparatus behind the cameras (not visible to the
public) was made with repurposed materials
including a 5-gallon water jug, garden hose
tubing, La-Z-Boy linear actuators, and wooden
crates were used to create the tilting platform.
In the months that followed, the studio
team created a custom-made version for
gallery presentation and worked with a local
glassblower who made the hourglass. This
machine was shown at the Brooklyn Museum in
2021 and 2022, and the studio is in negotiations
to show it in Montreal in the near future.
When the photographs started coming in
from people around the world, the experience
was intensely moving for us. As a queue of
photographs waited to be rendered in sand,
we waited for them too —a reminderof the
importance of human connection, of leveraging
strengths and capacity from multiple sources
to find unity in the most challenging times.
• Submit a photo of a loved one, watch
the drawings live, or view the portrait
archive at acrackinthehourglass.net
• Art21 documentary: art21.org/
watch/extended-play/rafael-lozano-
hemmer-a-crack-in-the-hourglass
17
make.co
Jennifer Dorner; Antimodular Research
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer at
the A Crack in the Hourglass
installation at the Brooklyn
Museum, New York, 2021.
M82_014-17_SandPortraits_F1.indd 17M82_014-17_SandPortraits_F1.indd 17 7/11/22 12:29 PM7/11/22 12:29 PM
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