Thursday, December 25, 2014

a pinch of salt


Thought behind the Thought


I wondered one day, as I heard a relative recount the loss of a dear one, what it means to love, lose and suffer! How does one go on living after having lost a person who was a major part of your life? 
How do you fill the hole in your heart? I guess, the human heart has a great capacity to restore itself. After all, doesn't it expand to accommodate a new person in your life? Maybe a friend, your spouse, kids?

The secret is to take both the situations in your stride and live life to the fullest. Happiness or sorrow, both feed your heart, only you have to take both with a pinch of salt!

This seemingly humble ingredient can raise the quality of life, both figuratively and literally. As demonstrated in this fantastic art created by salt artist Motoi Yamamoto in his 'Labyrinth' series.








About the artist:
Motoi Yamamoto is an internationally renowned artist, known for working with salt, often in the form of temporary, intricate, large-scale installations. 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.

“Drawing a labyrinth with salt is like following a trace of my memory. Memories seem to change and vanish as time goes by; however, what I seek is to capture a frozen moment that cannot be attained through pictures or writings,” Motoi has said. “What I look for at the end of the act of drawing could be a feeling of touching a precious memory.”






source and credits for information and images:
http://www.motoi.biz/english/e_top/e_top.html
http://www.mintmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/detail/return-to-the-sea-saltworks-by-motoi-yamamoto

1 comment:

  1. Thanks to you I came to know about the salt labyrinth.. Had never seen this before. Design jatra is doing a great job of bringing such unique things to us everyday.

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