The City of Hamilton today unveiled its latest public art installation, LAPS: Pink Sand—a captivating sculpture that invites the public to interact with and reimagine time.
Installed just inside Queen Elizabeth Park, beside the historic Perot Post Office, the artwork will rotate locations periodically throughout Hamilton to activate new spaces and keep the experience fresh and dynamic.
Unveiled by Acting Mayor John Harvey, LAPS is a modern reimagining of the hourglass—a tool that has measured moments across centuries. The installation offers a playful yet profound invitation to pause, engage, and reflect.
Public art should spark curiosity, conversation, and connection,” said the Acting Mayor. “LAPS: Pink Sand brings all of that and more—it’s interactive, meaningful, with auniquely Bermudian flair. This installation reflects the City’s commitment to making Hamilton a vibrant, inclusive, and ever-evolving cultural hub.”
Created by Olivier Landreville in collaboration with visual artist RiverJune (Julia Derdour) and produced by Init, LAPS isequipped with a steering wheel that controls the flow of vibrant pink balls through the transparent columns—a nod to Bermuda’s iconic pink sand.
LAPS: Pink Sand represents a unique opportunity to bring an internationally celebrated installation—which has visited major cities such as Denver, Ottawa, Houston, Delray Beach, Minneapolis and Liverpool—to Hamilton for the first time. By joining this global series, the City brings international recognition to our public spaces while adding a Bermudian twist through the signature pink sand theme.
“LAPS was conceptualized as a physical and sensory response to the fast pace of modern life,” said Jessica Astwood, the City’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “We wanted to create something that invited people to slow down, engage with their surroundings, and feel present in the moment. The ‘Pink Sand’ variation adds a distinct Bermudian signature, linking this international artwork to our local environment.”
Designed with a 2D monochrome sketch aesthetic, LAPS: Pink Sand balances industrial design with artistic nuance, encouraging visitors to interact and personalize their experience.
“LAPS is about reclaiming our relationship with time,” said creator Olivier Landreville. “It’s an invitation to play, to breathe, to notice. The moment you take the wheel, the rhythm becomes yours.”
Originally presented in Montreal in 2022, this is the first time LAPS has been customized for Bermuda. It forms part of the City’s VIVID Public Art Initiative, which has added over 20 original artworks to Hamilton’s streets and parks. LAPS will now be included in the City Art Tour, a self-guided walking tour that celebrates Hamilton’s public art. Tour brochures are available for free at City Hall or online at www.cityofhamilton.bm.
As part of this local adaptation, the City’s Public Affairs Manager Helen Zoellner composed an original poem inspired by the installation and its themes. The poem, displayed near the sculpture, adds an additional layer of reflection and ties the piece more deeply to Bermuda’s identity:
When the Last Grain Falls
Grains upon these island shores,
suspended between land and sea,
held in the hands of the wind and waves,
falling, shifting, shaping are we.
Pink as the dawn, soft as the swell,
we slip, we shift, we rise, we fall.
The waves may claim, the winds may call,
yet still, we endure, through it all.
We shape the land, we chart the deep,
but time moves on; it does not sleep.
No voice can call it, no hands can stay,
no force can hold its course at bay.
Yet here, for a breath, the tide is still,
the turning sands bend to your will.
Spin the glass, let moments flow,
pause, reflect, then let them go.
But when the last grain falls,
when your hour on earth is done,
may you not have wasted
a single one.
The public is encouraged to visit the installation in person to fully enjoy its immersive one-of-a-kind celebration of time, art, and place.
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