Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto began working in the unusual medium of salt when his younger sister passed away in 1994 from brain cancer. He created a three-dimensional brain from salt as a way of exploring his sister's condition and then went on to explore what would happen if the patterns and channels of the brain were flattened. The intricate patterns are the result of hundred of hours sitting cross-legged on the floor, carefully pouring and laying fine lines of salt to create each work. After each piece has been exhibited for several weeks, Yamamoto invites the public to communally destroy each work, after which the salt is bottled up and thrown back into the ocean.