Grains of truth: Of All the People in All the World

The brainchild of its artistic director James Yarker, Of All the People In All the World is a stunningly simple idea that doesn’t tell you the facts and figures about various population statistics, but shows you them instead, in an ever-changing narrative Photograph: David Sillitoe

The show uses 112 tonnes of American long-grain rice Photograph: David Sillitoe

Each pile tells its own story, but is given context by the mounds that surround it. So the mound that indicates the number of people in prison worldwide is set against the number of people who choose to live in gated communities in the US Photograph: David Sillitoe

Yarker hit upon the idea after his first trips abroad in his 20s: “I was struck by what a big place the world was and how many people were in it. It made me question my own place Photograph: David Sillitoe

Of All the People In All the World is at the AR Harris Factory Birmingham until October 5 2008 Photograph: David Sillitoe