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" Playing in the dirt is routine for kids and gardeners, but a new exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design may prove that artists get the most out of the medium. &amp;quot;Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design&amp;quot; features 25 international photographers, sculptors, painters, and auteurs who find inspiration in detritus. Playful in the most serious way, the exhibits are delicate, ephemeral objects that are surprisingly filled with life. Curator David McFadden credits the artists with &amp;quot;resurrecting and rearranging the neglected and castoff materials of our daily lives,&amp;quot; essentially finding poetry in the stuff most of us consider a problem. Los Angeles-based sculptor Kim Abeles tints porcelain with smog; Alexandre Orion, reverse-paints soot-covered walls with soapy water; and Elvira Wersche draws intricate geometric patterns across soil collected from 600 sites around the world. A sacred streak runs through many of the works as ashes and dust can&amp;#039;t help but remind us of the cycle of life. To further explore this curious link, a handful of artists are participating in the &amp;quot;Swept Away Projects,&amp;quot; creating interactive installations where the public is invited to sweep, touch, and walk through the works. An excellent activity for kids, gardeners, and generally anyone not wearing white. &amp;quot;Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design,&amp;quot; the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, through August 22; madmuseum.org  Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Ashes to Art.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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