Curtin architecture students got sand on their hands this month but they weren’t at the beach.
The Sanditecture event saw students build sand sculpture models of real life architecturally significant buildings from across the globe under the careful instruction of sand sculpture expert Tim Darby.
Mr Darby, owner of Sand Sculpture WA, also created his own spectacular piece, an interpretation of The Old Woman Who Lived in Her Shoe.
He said using sand the students learnt about the principals of design while working with a material they had never used before.
“By the end of it they were really won over by it and it seemed to generate a lot of enthusiasm by staff, the students involved and by the passers by,” he said. Mr Darby first became interested in art in year one and has worked with a range of materials but said sand was his favourite.
“In art you can either look at product or process and I tend to be a pretty process orientated person,” he said.
“I really enjoy doing it, I find it’s a fascinating material to work with and you’re always pushing your skills.
“I like the fact it’s temporary, it’s a little bit of a reminder that nothing in life is permanent.”
Mr Darby uses brickies sand, which can be used in two to three sculptures making it a sustainable product.
He often used the leftover sand in landscaping projects.
