Before and After Sand

An exhibition in collaboration with Material Cultures exploring the value of sand, from its formation over time to the impact of its extraction in the present and its role in a regenerative future.

Sand is essential to how we move through, inhabit and see the world. It is the most exploited resource in the world after water. Its consumption is growing at an unprecedented pace: China used more sand in three years than the U.S. in the whole 20th century.

The majority of this is used in construction. Concrete uses seven units of sand and gravel for each unit of cement, and sand provides the underlay to vast land reclamation projects. Across the world, over 50 bn tonnes of aggregates are used in construction each year – enough to form a 27 × 27 meter wall around the equator.

Ubiquitous at all scales, from roads, through glass to microchips, sand is everywhere. But its seeming abundance masks the fact that specific kinds of sand are needed for specific purposes. Many are now obtained through clandestine extraction from ecosystems on the brink of collapse. Gauging the potential for these sites to recover depends on our ability to weigh up the diversity and abundance of life within the landscape before and after the sand is removed – and this involves processes of long-term measurement and modelling that are at the limits of what contemporary data sets allow for.

The exhibition also includes a new, site-specific sand sculpture by the St. Gallen artist, Roman Signer. Known for his experimental, poetic and playful use of materials, Signer creates a thematic link to the neighboring Kunstgiesserei as a place for the production of art.