This weekend, you can be a part of temporary art on Boston beaches.
San Francisco-based artist Andres Amador creates elaborate artworks along shorelines. He uses tiny rakes on the sand, creating large-scale geometric designs you have to see from above to appreciate their scale. Amador started creating this kind of art about 13 years ago. He was studying geometry and became interested in what geometric patterns and symbols mean within different cultures. While explaining types of geometric patterns and how they can can be iterated over and over to a friend while standing on a beach, he sketched out a few in the sand. “I was like, this is how you would start any crop circle,” Amador said. “It can be any size you want, you just have to have the space for it.”
Amador said that he likes to go as large as he can with his creations,, “as big as the space and the tide allow.” This weekend, he’ll be creating three separate pieces on beaches throughout Boston. On Friday, Amador is hosting a youth workshop on South Boston’s Carson Beach from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., where he’ll work with kids on sand carvings. On Saturday, anyone is invited to participate and add to his artwork at Savin Hill Beach in Dorchester, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Amador will also be on Constitution Beach in Each Boston on Sunday from noon to 3:30 p.m. Amador will provide people with examples and guidance of what shapes to make, and then let them make their own creative contributions to the piece. He has had up to 200 people participate over the course of a couple of hours, he said. “Part of why I do this and share with the public is that I love the power of working together to create,” he said. “It’s always a magical experience, and so I look forward to people being a part of the magic.”
