BY: ERIC ZDANCEWICZ
For his newest exhibition, artist Motoi Yamamoto has created two incredibly detailed installations using salt as his only material. The installation is displayed at Aigues-Mortes, a 13th-century French castle. According to The Creators Project, “Yamamoto enters a zen-like state to meticulously arrange each crystalline line.” The work took Yamamoto 45 hours over a 5-day period.
“I define this state of empty and clear mind as a moment I am focusing only on salt lines. My body directly connects to my mind, and my mind connects to salt lines.”
The work is part of the univer’sel exhibition, where artists have created a dialogue between the material of salt, contemporary art and heritage. In Motoi’s work, the importance of salt is tied to the cycle of life and death. Salt is found in the sea, where life began, it is used as a preservative for food, and in Japan, participants of a funeral place it on their bodies, as it is believed to purify the mind.
Visit: Motoi’s Website
All Photos Courtesy of Motoi Yamamoto
