These Incredible Drawings Are Etched Onto Single Grains Of Sand

    Artists Vik Muniz and Marcelo Coelho have turned the concept of sandcastles upside-down.

    Robyn Wilder
    by Robyn Wilder

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    Each of these photographs is of a microscopic castle etched onto a single particle of sand.

    Vik Muniz, Marcelo Coelho / Courtesy of Sikkema, Jenkins & Co. Gallery

    They are the work of artists Vik Muniz and Marcelo Coelho, who is also an MIT researcher.

    Vik Muniz, Marcelo Coelho / Courtesy of Sikkema, Jenkins & Co. Gallery

    Muniz would draw a castle and project it through a special prism.

    Vik Muniz, Marcelo Coelho / Courtesy of Sikkema, Jenkins & Co. Gallery

    Then Coelho would trace the drawing onto each particle using a Focused Ion Beam. Each line etched is only a tiny fraction of the width of a human hair.

    Vik Muniz, Marcelo Coelho / Courtesy of Sikkema, Jenkins & Co. Gallery

    The entire project took Muniz and Coelho four years. This video shows the mind-bogglingly intricate process in more detail.

    If you're in Israel, you can check out these 'sandcastles' at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.