Sand is the material that matters most to what it means for us to be human — socially, culturally, technologically, politically. It is plentiful, and yet our demand for it and extraction methods are creating irreversible damage. Sand geographies, from beaches and deserts, to ocean floors and sandstorm tracks, shape how we live in and engage our environments. As an environmental journalist, sand provides material with which we can — almost — grasp and start to make sense of what it means to be human during this time of ecological crisis. Examining our relationships with sand can, perhaps, guide us to a more just, equitable and environmentally conscious future. We all have our sand memories, and Haboob is a re-telling of my earliest body-memory of sand.
This work-in-progress experiment is the first iteration of a VR experience that combines haptic interactions with sand with virtual experiences of the haboob, or sandstorm. Created in partnership with New York Live Arts. Text by Nehal El-Hadi originally commissioned by New York Live Arts.
