Artist Xu Bing uses words to create a haunting installation that addresses the events of September 11.
'Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?' uses dust collected directly from the streets of lower Manhattan in the aftermath of the disaster.
The message stenciled in the ghostly sheath of dust reads: “As there is nothing from the first, Where does the dust itself collect?" It is an excerpt from a Zen Buddhist poem.
The fragility and impermanence of the dust, and its origins, make the viewer confront the remains of what has been lost.
[via Xu Bing and My Modern Met]