Culture Art & Media What's the Secret Behind This Artist's Quirky Sandcastles? By Kimberley Mok Writer McGill University Cornell University Kimberley Mok is a former architect who covered architecture and the arts for Treehugger since 2007. our editorial process Twitter Twitter Kimberley Mok Updated January 02, 2020 CC BY-NC 2.0. Sandcastle Matt Share Twitter Pinterest Email Culture History Travel Sustainable Fashion Art & Media Holidays Community Building castles with sand on a sunny beach is a pleasurable activity of childhood, though some adults happily take sand-craft to new artistic heights. A Massachusetts resident going by the name of Sandcastle Matt created these striking sandcastles using salvaged materials like plywood, vines and other detritus as supports. Sandcastle Matt via Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0 Sandcastle Matt/CC BY-NC 2.0 Sandcastle Matt/CC BY-NC 2.0 Using what is called the drip method (where sand and water are mixed and dripped from a fist to create various forms), Sandcastle Matt plays with the possibilities to generate abstract outlines and incredibly skinny arches that seem to hold themselves up as if by magic (of course, those under-structures made of junk are a big help). "Melissa" and Sandcastle Matt via Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0 Matt's sandcastles have even gone viral, with the images of one sandcastle being mistakenly identified as the result of lightning petrifying the sand (that's called fulgurite for the detail-oriented out there), which Scientific American recently debunked. Sandcastle Matt/CC BY-NC 2.0 Sandcastle Matt via Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0 In any case, viral or not, Matt's sandcastles are organic and quirky, a pleasant surprise to stumble upon on a sun-drenched beach. To see more of Matt's sandcastle or his process, head on over to Flickr.