The following video was sent to me a few days ago. It’s from Ukraine’s Got Talent 2009, which appears to be the same sort of reality TV contest show as other nations’ Got Talent programs. The artist, Kseniya Simonova, 24, began “sand animating” in 2008 when her business collapsed due to the credit crunch (1). According to the email message accompanying the video, the piece is about the German Third Reich conquering Ukraine in World War II. The quote on the final scene translates to “You are always near.” That’s should be enough background information.
Anyone who’s worked with sand knows that it’s not an easy material. If it is meant for images, as it is in the performance, it requires a three-dimensional medium to be viewed as a two-dimensional media. For Simonova to work so quickly, efficiently, and artfully, with a natural feel for showbiz (as seen when she throws sand to begin work on her next scene), it’s understandable why the judges awarded her with the win. One salient characteristic of the video is her development of faces, specifically the aging process on the woman. Her pictures are not abstract – though they do rely on negative space as the subject of the image – nor entirely realistic; if anything, they are symbolic representations of mourning women and war. The lighting beneath the sand also affords a sepia-tone look frequently observed in old television and video, and it works perfectly in sync with the subject material and images.
I encourage anyone reading this to take the eight-and-a-half minutes to watch the video and admire the skill, beauty, and talent in the art of Simonova, the reigning Champ of Ukraine’s Got Talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kseniya_Simonova
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