Sand
Tones

Transitory art co-created with destructive mechanical instability.

A box of blue sand hangs from the ceiling. Squeezing a control on the box dispenses sand downward onto a metal plate below. Gently applying downward force on the sandbox causes the receiving plate to vibrate rapidly, with frequency proportional to the amount of pressure applied. The vibrations can create patterns in the sand if held stable, but otherwise cause the design to gradually fall apart into random noise as it's being created.

Instructable

Build your own Sandtone by following our Instructable.

The Team

Project Lead: Ashton Grosz

Contributors: Joe Lyske, Kate Farina, Chris DeLeon

Created as part of the Digital World & Image Group at Georgia Tech led by Dr. Michael Nitsche