Sometimes, instead of asking "why," it's better just to say "woah." This piece by New York artist Naoko Ito is one of those times.

The project, entitled Ubiquitous, dissects a single six-foot wide tree branch into about two dozen pieces, the meticulously places them in jars to create this optical illusion. A comment on the commoditization of nature, or preservation's collateral fragmentary and isolating effects? Nah. Just one wicked cool visual idea. Woah. [Neatorama via Make]