Boyle Family

The "Sand, Wind and Tide Series" or "Tidal Series" is a pivotal early work, made in Camber Sands, a beach in southern England, over the span of a week in the beach's tidal zone. The 14 earthprobes that comprise the series, one after each tide for a week, are an examination of the ever-changing physical relationship between sand and water.
The series and the studies for it are significant in that the works represent Boyle Family’s first natural site, making it clear that the artists were not just interested in making studies of urban and man-made locations which they had focused on up to this point. Furthermore, Camber Sands was selected specifically to observe and present its unique topography, while most of the sites for the earthprobes were chosen at random. The exact location on the beach was determined by pragmatics; the area would need to be covered by the sea at high tide, exposed when the tide was out, and found again by measuring from existing fixed points on land.
While the main Camber Sands project was in 1969, Boyle Family worked there on other occasions. The first time was in 1966 and they made other pieces there in the 70s and 80s. "Tidal Sand Study, Camber", 2003-2005 was made along with a few other pieces around the time of their major exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2003.

Provenance

The artist
Private Collection

Exhibitions

2021
Boyle Family: Nothing is more radical than the facts, Luhring Augustine, New York, NY

Publications

2021
Boyle Family: Nothing is more radical than the facts, exh. cat. New York: Luhring Augustine, 2021.