Concept

Introduction

The Tradition

First Pieces

Sand Etchings

Eastern Gallery

Western Gallery

News

Plans

FAQ

Sand As Medium, Ulysses & Sisyphus: Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the upcoming development?

   Ulysses is evolving rapidly, and new levels of functionality and interactivity are are planned to be released by the end of September.

2. Have you considered Levitation?

   Levitation is most fascinating and is actually possible under certain circumstances. Unfortunately there is no hope for it within the current concept behind Sand As Medium. It would be fun though to control balls jumping at will over the sand and this would open so many possibilities.

3. Any Documentation?

   Besides this web site, more documentation is available on the Sand As Medium concept, and on the Ulysses and Sisyphus pieces:
   - a short postscript statement
   - a small japanese style flutter book,
   - a series of slides,
   - a video tape (us$5; french version available; italian, german upcoming),
   - a cdrom.
   Please send information requests by mail to <hebert@kitp.ucsb.edu>.

4. Why Ulysses?

   To be found in Homer or James Joyce?

5. Why Sisyphus?

   Sisyphus pushes his famous rock forever up the hill Full story. Sisyphus pushes a ball through a sea of sand. Not uphill though --as noticed by Jeffrey Evans.
   And then of course, we shall always have Albert Camus's "Le Mythe de Sisyphe."

6. How long does an etching take?

   According to complexity (measured by the linear length of the ball travels and by the number of steps describing its path), it takes Sisyphus thirty minutes to ten hours to complete a sand etching. Ulysses can be quite faster when this is desirable.

7. Who Ho?

   The first three instances of Jean-Pierre Hébert's sand medium have been built by Ho, a collaboration of Jean-Pierre Hébert and Bruce Shapiro. The activities of this collaboration have ceased in June'99.

8. How fast is the ball?

   The current speed is in a five-fifteen inches per minute range. Higher speeds would be possible, a matter of cost. It is likely that beyond a certain subjective speed, the contemplative and metaphysical magics of the workings on the sand would vanish. Ulysses or Sisyphus could not possibly dash. But then they could, and so would evolve into something else, interactive and surprising: speeds of more than 10m/s. could be achieved in fact!

9. How fine is the sand?

   The sand is very fine (pure silica #90). It could be too fine and become a powder into which the ball would be englued. It could be too coarse and become a gravel with equally blocking but different frictions. The depth of the sand and the diameter of the ball are obvious factor.
   This is again scalable, and size and cost dependent.
   Japan dry sand gardens are actually of raked gravel, which is fine at their scale and stands outdoor weathering in rain and wind quite better.

10. Why a computer, not a rake?

    Truely, raked sand gardens large and small are beautiful. Unfortunately they are now frozen, deserted by Zen creativity (*).
    Ulysses and Sisyphus are alive. They can render an infinite variety of concepts of deep complexity or pure simplicity. They do so with so perfect an execution that it could not be matched in the medium by handy work. Witnessing their activities or their stillness leaves profound impressions.
    Ulysses and Sisyphus are creative, and reflective. Raking can certainly be too.

(*) I have been reported that some lesser known garden would be periodically re-raked in numerous patterns.