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Mark Dion: Misadventures of a 21st-Century Naturalist
A comprehensive survey of American artist Mark Dion, examining three decades of his critically engaged practice interrogating our relationship with nature
The first book in two decades to consider the entire oeuvre of Mark Dion (b. 1961), this volume examines thirty years of the American artist’s pioneering inquiries into how we collect, interpret, and display nature. Part of a generation of artists expanding institutional critique in the 1990s, Dion adopted the methods of the archaeologist or the natural history museum, juxtaposing natural objects, taxidermy, books, and more to reorganize the natural and the manmade in poetic, witty ways. These sculptures, installations, and interventions offer novel approaches to questioning institutional power, which he sees as connected to the control and representation of nature.
Generously illustrated, this publication introduces new insights and features more than seventy-five artworks. Essays address topics ranging from Dion’s ecological activism to his loving critique of museums. A diverse group of contributors explores his work as a teacher, his public artworks such as Neukom Vivarium in Seattle, and his intricate curiosity cabinets installed throughout the world. They reveal how Dion’s practice and formal investigations—which are rooted in history—connect to contemporary questions of disciplinary boundaries and the acquisition of knowledge in the age of the Anthropocene.
Published in association with The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Exhibition Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
(10/04/17–01/07/18)
The first book in two decades to consider the entire oeuvre of Mark Dion (b. 1961), this volume examines thirty years of the American artist’s pioneering inquiries into how we collect, interpret, and display nature. Part of a generation of artists expanding institutional critique in the 1990s, Dion adopted the methods of the archaeologist or the natural history museum, juxtaposing natural objects, taxidermy, books, and more to reorganize the natural and the manmade in poetic, witty ways. These sculptures, installations, and interventions offer novel approaches to questioning institutional power, which he sees as connected to the control and representation of nature.
Generously illustrated, this publication introduces new insights and features more than seventy-five artworks. Essays address topics ranging from Dion’s ecological activism to his loving critique of museums. A diverse group of contributors explores his work as a teacher, his public artworks such as Neukom Vivarium in Seattle, and his intricate curiosity cabinets installed throughout the world. They reveal how Dion’s practice and formal investigations—which are rooted in history—connect to contemporary questions of disciplinary boundaries and the acquisition of knowledge in the age of the Anthropocene.
Published in association with The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Exhibition Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
(10/04/17–01/07/18)
- GenresNonfictionArt
216 pages, Hardcover
Published October 17, 2017
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October 15, 2019
From "Some Notes Toward a Manifesto for Artists Working With or About the Living World"
2. a Humans do not stand outside of nature; we, too, are animals, a part of the very thing we have tried to control, whether for exploitation or protection.
b. Just as humanity cannot be separated from nature, so our conception of nature cannot be said to stand outside of culture and society. We construct and are constructed by nature.
2. a Humans do not stand outside of nature; we, too, are animals, a part of the very thing we have tried to control, whether for exploitation or protection.
b. Just as humanity cannot be separated from nature, so our conception of nature cannot be said to stand outside of culture and society. We construct and are constructed by nature.
Displaying 1 of 1 review