Xiaopeng Zhou

The Interpretation of Dust

2024
Arylic spray on colour paper, plastic container, print

In the storage rooms of the paleobotanical collections at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin the artist gathers geological knowledge and explores the contexts of scientific research in which ecological knowledge is collected, shaped, and constructed. In this installation, the specimen storage boxes piled on the floor contain no visible fossils—only images of fossils and the dust left behind after the specimens have been removed. These traces represent both the negative space of the fossils and the artwork itself. By perceiving the transformation of fossils between tangible and intangible states, the work highlights the multiple pathways and temporal scales of the carbon cycle, symbolizing the complex and dynamic processes of carbon transformation across both natural and cultural dimensions.