‘Re-move, sand!’ tells the story of earthly materials that are continuously circulated by humans. The performance creates a potent image of the futility of human efforts in relation to long-term geophysical processes in shaping land and seascapes, and the necessity to cooperate instead of trying to dominate these processes. Inspired by the daily dredging of the Waddensea between barrier island Ameland and the mainland, ‘Re-move, sand!’ asks the audience to partake in moving sand. In doing so, the audience can decide to stay within the rhythms of late capitalist restless efficiency, or can experiment with observing and cooperating with sand’s recalcitrance to this tempo. The installation invites participants to play with alternative ways of seeing sand time and the future in the light of the Waddensea’s dynamics. Within this constellation, we wonder what moving with sand would look like and enact and how participants materially intervene in ways to decentre capitalistic desires. We explore how the audience is (already) participating and complicit in shaping sandscapes the energy used to re-move earthly materials.

In collaboration with Marieke Meesters.

Made possible by the Hendrik Muller Fonds.