Art

#installation #salt

Floating Garden: A New Poured Salt Installation by Motoi Yamamoto at Mint Museum Uptown

July 2, 2013

Christopher Jobson

Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto (previously) recently stopped by Mint Museum Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina to pour one of his immense, twisting clouds of salt. Titled “Floating Garden” the piece was created over several weeks from February through March before a crowd of attendees was permitted to destroy it. Watch the time-lapse above to see everything come together (and apart). Via the museum:

Salt, a traditional symbol for purification and mourning in Japanese culture, is used in funeral rituals and by sumo wrestlers before matches. It is frequently placed in small piles at the entrance to restaurants and other businesses to ward off evil spirits and to attract benevolent ones. Motoi forged a connection to the substance while mourning the death of his sister, at the age of twenty-four, from brain cancer, and began to create art out of salt in an effort to preserve his memories of her. His art radiates an intense beauty and tranquility, but also conveys something ineffable, painful, and endless.

You can see numerous installation and process photos over on Facebook.

All photos by James Martin, The Mint Museum

#installation #salt

 

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