“Art Disappearing in One Day”,

Ten Days and Nights of Producing a Massive Sandpainting in the Dunhuang Desert

BESTORE – The Sandpainting Disappearing in a Day

BESTORE, a popular Chinese confectionary company, helped conserve and protect the culture and beautiful landscape of the Dunhuang desert by inviting a groups of artists to create a massive Sandpainting in the heart of the desert. The art project, “The Sandpainting Disappearing in a Day”, successfully captured the attention of the public and broadcasted the beauty and culture surrounding the Dunhuang, inviting people to protect and conserve this area together.In August 2019, the artists spend ten days and nights creating a marvelous art piece in the middle of the Dunhuang desert. The sandpainting remained peacefully on the desert, slowly disappearing as the wind blew away the colorful pieces of sand. In one day, the sandpainting completely disappeared leaving no trace of its existence; this impressive moment was captured on camera and created into a film, informing us to cherish the present.

On August 19th, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Dunhuang area to deliver a speech about the importance of cultural conservation. On the 20th, our project, “The Sandpainting Disappearing in a Day”, was broadcasted on many important media platforms such as People's Daily, The Xinhua News Agency, Tencent, Sohu, and NetEase.

2019 / Auguste / Dunhuang, Gansu Province

Brand Transboundary + Event Marketing + Public Space + Artists

Tian Yu Kong x Oh, not gallery

Postscript: Some areas of the desert are considered a hinterland because the harsh environment there makes it extremely difficult for human survival. We chose two locations for our production space so there was a backup plan; one of the locations was completely ruined due to heavy rain, so we set up tent at the other location. With an off-road team providing us with artistic materials and necessities, a magnificent sandpainting was finally completed.