Sand falls, then trickles, and lies quietly until a human hand, depicted like a machine, slowly and steadily changes the structure of the sand, creating drawings that are repetitively destroyed and redrawn.
Filmed with cold scientific precision and overwhelming sound, human manipulation and exploitation of nature is experienced as physical labour and industrial destruction as well as cultural expression.

This video was inspired by Kobo Abe’s novel The woman in the Dunes.
Here are some quotes from the book (in English translation):

“When he closed his eyes, a number of long lines flowing like sighs, came floating towards him.…..Things with form were empty when placed beside sand. The only certain factor was its movement; sand was the antithesis of all form…. Suddenly his mind cleared and he saw everything. Only the sand was his enemy…. Sand not only flows, but this very flow is the sand…. Her repetitive movements gave colour to the present and a feeling of actuality.”