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Have you ever played one of those labyrinth games where you’re trying to move a marble around a wooden maze by altering its pitch? This is a giant version which is played with a bowling ball and controlled with a tablet computer. It was on display yesterday at Google’s I/O Conference.
Link via Popular Science | Conference Website (auto-sound)
After his sister died of brain cancer, Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto began constructing enormous, detailed labyrinths. They’re temporary installations made out of ground salt and reflect a special significance that his culture places on that mineral:
In Japanese culture salt is not only a necessary element to sustain human life, but it is also a symbol of purification. He uses salt in loose form to create intricate labyrinth patterns on the gallery floor or in baked brick form to construct large interior structures. As with the labyrinths and innavigable passageways, Motoi views his installations as exercises which are at once futile yet necessary to his healing.
Link via Dude Craft | Artist’s Website
Large mazes or labyrinths served different purposees at different times inhistory, but they are always fun! In the 16th century, garden mazes were features of many noble gardens. They enabled people to mix socially, to get some exercise, to have fun, and to participate in nature! Mazes have been built for other reasons as well.
In 1950 Canon Harry Cheales, parish priest of Wyck Rissington, a small village in the south of England, had a curious dream. In it, he was looking out of window of the rectory while below him, in the garden, he could see people walking around a maze. A shadowy figure behind him was describing the scene.
The dream was so vivid that, on walking, the rector felt compelled to build a real-life version of the maze he had seen. The newly constructed maze was modeled on a set of religious carvings in the village church and the design was symbolic. The winding pathways represented the journey of life. The wrong turnings and culs-de-sac symbolized the sins that people commit before death, obstacles on the way to paradise and heaven.
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Maybe it’s just a childhood fascination, but I adore hedge mazes. After fun Halloween corn mazes and the movie Labyrinth, who wouldn’t? WebEcoist has a great collection of mazes for your viewing enjoyment. Enjoy!
