Sand is her bitch

August 14, 2009 6:35 AM

Ukraine's Got Talent.Sand artist Kseniya Simonova knocks Susan Boyle into a cocked hat and moves the judges to tears on her way to winning the talent show by using sand animation to tell the story of Germany's conquering of Ukraine during WWII. Video.
posted by The Ultimate Olympian (21 comments total)

Yeah, saw that earlier. Crazy amazing. Loved it.
posted by billysumday at 6:39 AM on August 14

Wow. Cool.
posted by srboisvert at 6:41 AM on August 14

What a strangely evocative medium. Of course the story is tragic (even with the ending), but that was beautiful to watch. The old digital artist side of me wants a Photoshop sand tool to play with on my long-mothballed WACOM tablet. The variance in line width and opacity shifts on the hard lines vs. soft are really beautiful.
posted by empyrean at 6:54 AM on August 14

She should do a piece telling the story of the Holodomor. She could just eat the sand.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:54 AM on August 14 [2 favorites]

Last month.
posted by smackfu at 6:54 AM on August 14

Why the hell do I watch these things at work. *sniff*
posted by WinnipegDragon at 6:56 AM on August 14

Last month

Missed it then, glad I caught the post this time.
posted by empyrean at 6:56 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]

Even without understanding the cultural context of the story, she's still amazingly talented.

Better than Grandma Lee, even!
posted by Horselover Fat at 6:56 AM on August 14

Triple dipple whipple.

"Sand is her bitch"???
posted by Dr-Baa at 6:57 AM on August 14

Triple dipple whipple.

She just keeps kicking sand in our eyes.
posted by litleozy at 7:04 AM on August 14

That's from the Guardian article, actually quoting a YouTube commenter. Go media.
posted by smackfu at 7:04 AM on August 14

"Sand is her bitch"???

Thomas Haden Church never had it so good.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:05 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]

She just keeps kicking sand in our eyes.

Wait, no, I'll come in again.

'She just keeps kicking up sand!'
posted by litleozy at 7:13 AM on August 14

Giant Sand.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 7:31 AM on August 14

Sand is her bitch - such an unpoetic way to describe something so beautiful.
posted by scalefree at 7:42 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]

yeah, have to agree on the lack of dexterity present in the thread title.

Having said that, this was linked on ze frank's blog a little bit ago and I loved it. I actually came here to the blue to the post it as well only to discover that it would be a triple. Doh.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:59 AM on August 14

oh my god. that was amazing.
posted by shmegegge at 8:08 AM on August 14

also: Nothing Else Matters?
posted by shmegegge at 8:08 AM on August 14

Man, her movements are so fluid and quick, it almost looks sped up at times.

Her stuff reminds me of William Kentridge's animations where you see ghost images of the last frame or transitioning picture.
posted by piratebowling at 8:09 AM on August 14

" This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions. "

Oh for fuck's sake, what is it this time, the grains of sand are DRM'd over there in the Ukraine? You too, YouTube? *sniff*
posted by Iosephus at 8:14 AM on August 14

God, I hate Metallica. Doubly so.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:17 AM on August 14