Sunday, August 26, 2012

A Temporary Mosaic

Starting August 29, artist Motoi Yamamoto of Japan will make a mosaic of salt at the Laband Art Gallery at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester. The process and the resulting mosaic is called Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto.

The artist has created these artworks all over the world, each one unique, each one standing for only a few weeks or months. The picture below is of an installation in Marseilles and comes from the artist's blog.

This picture is from an installation in Seoul.

I think this qualifies as mosaic--I learned about it in Mosaic Art Now. And while salt granules are smaller than tiles or bits of glass, making a picture of them is just such an interesting concept that I hope we can blur the line.

Yamamoto came to this unusual art form as a way of memorializing his younger sister, who died of brain cancer. Salt is a symbol of purification and mourning in Japan, and as the Gallery puts it, the art "radiates an intense beauty and tranquility, but also conveys something ineffable, painful, and endless."

For three days, from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesday through Friday, you can come watch the artist work. Ditto the next week, on Tuesday 9/4 through Thursday 9/6--all free.

On Saturday, September 8, a reception will be held from 4 to 6 pm, then the artwork will be on display through the first week of December. When the exhibit is finished, the salt is bagged and returned to the sea. The following video shows an installation from earlier this year:

1 comment:

Vickey Kall said...

Just occurred to me--what if there's an earthquake during the exhibition? How will the salt shift? That could be a whole new form of performance art!