Gallery: An Artist Makes the Universe From Sand—And Then Destroys It

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    For a recent exhibition at the New Museum Los Gatos, installation artist Rachel Sussman created a colorful image of the cosmic microwave background out of sand.
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    Sussman used paint brushes to destroy her work this past Sunday.
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    The piece required two weeks of painstaking work to create---and a matter of seconds to sweep away.
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    Part of making a mandala is accepting that the sand isn’t going to stick around forever, which is why Sussman decided to destroy it.
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    Sussman invited museumgoers to participate in the mandala's ceremonial destruction.
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    The artist encouraged visitors to bring a vessel with which to collect "the sands of the universe."
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    The remnants of Sussman's “Cosmic Microwave Mandala."
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    These glass containers hold a portion of the colored sand Sussman used to create the mandala.