Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?
An installation by Xu Bing
In this award-winning installation, Xu Bing explores the boundaries between the physical and spiritual realms, between impermanence and eternity.
On view at 7 West 22nd Street in Manhattan from September 8-10
The Bodhi (True Wisdom) is not like the tree;
The mirror bright is nowhere shining;
As there is nothing from the first,
Where does the dust itself collect?
This poetic response was written as the true expression of Chan (Zen) Buddhism by Hui Neng (638-713), the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan sect. It was intended by Hui Neng to answer the poem of another Zen monk who claimed to understand the faith in all its purity, who wrote:
The body is the Bodhi tree;
The soul is like the mirror bright,
Take heed to keep it always clean,
And let no dust collect upon it.
In the gallery space, using dust collected from the streets of lower-Manhattan in the
aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Xu Bing creates a fine blanket of dust punctuated by the outline of a Zen Buddhist poem, revealed as if the letters have been removed from under the layer. The subdued, quiet space created by this work references the thin, whitish-grey film that covered lower-Manhattan in the weeks following September 11, 2001. The dust is applied to the floor with a leaf blower and allowed 24 hours to settle over a stencil that is later removed to reveal the text “As there is nothing from the first, where does the dust itself collect?”
Upon awarding the inaugural Artes Mundi award to Xu Bing for the work, Okwui Enwezor, Chair of the Judging Panel said “One of the things the judges most liked was the way Xu Bing translates ideas and issues into visual forms that cross cultural boundaries. In the National Museum & Gallery he has created a space for reflection which is both engaging and moving. He consistently creates haunting and lasting images by capturing the fragility of human existence. Xu Bing is an artist with wit, poetry and passion.”
The work “Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?” will be presented by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in a storefront at 7 West 22nd Street in Manhattan from September 8-10. The space will be open Tues-Sunday 12 noon until – 6:00 p.m. A panel discussion will be at the Museum of Chinese in America on the evening of September 13.
Materials: Dust collected near Ground Zero in the wake of the September 11 attacks; Chan Buddhist poem; viewing platform and process photos
Dimensions: 25 feet by 20 feet
Previously Exhibited: Artes Mundi: Wales International Visual Art Prize 2004, National Museum &Gallery, Cardiff, Wales (winner); Xu Bing in Berlin, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin,Germany (2004); 26th São Paulo Biennial, Pavilhão Ciccillo, San Paulo, Brazil (2004)
Note on transporting 9/11 dust: In advance of his 2004 trip to Cardiff, Wales to install this work for the inaugural Artes Mundi exhibition, Xu Bing became concerned that he would not be able to bring the fine, white dust on an international flight. In the post-9/11 security environment, it would be hard for anyone to explain away a bag of dust labeled “September 11, 2001” concealed in one’s carry-on baggage. Thus, using a rubber mold based on the form of his daughter’s doll, Xu Bing created a small statue, which easily passed through screening and was later ground back into powder.
Xu Bing: Tobacco Project opens at VMFA on September 10, 2011. Admission is free.
Xu Bing Studio
Brooklyn NY
www.xubing.com