art paper
Mark Dion (b. 1961)
Mark Dion 1
For American Installation artist Mark Dion, collecting is important as his artmaking since one feeds off another. As a young boy, Dion collected sea shells, and as an adult, he continues the pattern of this hobby that has become his passion and way of life. In his work, Dion explores the definition of collecting and the relationship it has to museums, professionals, and the audience. The artist challenges the traditional taxonomy of educational institutions like natural history and art museums by creating his own classifications and displays that reflect his personal, unique vision. Dion takes on an archeologist's identity, defining a new classification order and thus questioning the ones of the past. His goal is to break down the conventional traditions of collecting and classifying specimens and share an expanded, versatile, and multi-disciplinary approach with the audience. As the artist excavates the layers of time, he often involves the public in the process.
Tate Thames Dig 2
The artist engages the public in his work by inviting them to partake in the collecting practices, thus generating a performance. Three stages of the artmaking process in Dion's work consist of digging, cleaning, and assembling. Each step is a crucial part of the process and final product. For instance, during the initial digging stage, participants of the excavation retrieve interesting finds from the selected sites. Cleaning and classification of the matter follows, allowing the "archeologists" in their white lab coat disguise to carefully inspect each item and find its designated place of order. Volunteers carrying out each task may be compared to actors who play or perform. Similar to the work of the photographer Cindy Sherman, Dion and his assistants take on different identities of archeologists, scientists, naturalists, and curators. The final step in the process is Dion's final touch, of his decisions to display the classified work for everyone to view, marvel, and enjoy.
Dion's presentation of found objects may be described as Fantastic explorations of old and new. The Cabinets of Curiosities tradition is reinvented in the final stages of Dion's work when he showcases his diverse treasures in wooden cabinets. What makes his cabinets so curious are the surprising and unorthodox groupings of the excavated materials. While metal cans are juxtaposed with old pottery shards, antiques are displayed next to modern items. The artist draws inspiration from the naturalists and collectors of the 19th century such as Alfred Russell Wallace and Charles Darwin, whose theory of the natural selection inspired Dion's views of taxonomy and natural life. Similar to these figures, Dion also travels to distant lands to collect and examine history and modern life. By assembling his own cabinets, shops, and science labs, Dion follows in the footsteps of these great men while dancing to his own tune.
Vocabulary
Many of the important terms and concepts from the textbook readings are demonstrated in this artist's work. Be sure to study how these terms are evidenced in the works.
installation
mass
addition
subtraction
void
Artwork Gallery
Tate Thames Dig 3
“Tate Thames Dig” – 1999-2000
Tate Thames Dig (1999-2000) is the name of Mark Dion’s exploration of the Thames River banks in London. With the help of numerous volunteers, the artist embarked on a journey of excavating the strata of Thame’s life and history to display in the Tate Modern Museum. The entire process of retrieving, cleaning, classifying, and installing the discovered treasures is a performance of its own where roles and appearances are constantly changed and challenged. After the physical labor of digging and “fishing” for treasures of any size, color or shape, a more intimate activity follows. In archeological tents each discovery is thoroughly inspected, cleaned, and labeled by participants dressed in white lab coats. They are “pretend” archeologists sorting through the piles of versatile matter. In these mounds of nails, bottles, pottery shards, toys, clay pipes, bottles, animal bones, and oyster shells a history of Thames comes to life. The old bridges, ships, and houses reappear, telling the stories of their existence through the retrieved remains.
After a year of collecting, cleaning, and classifying, the final step to the project is presented inside a traditional mahogany cabinet within Tate Modern’s gallery. Peering inside this structure is a bizarre and striking experience, since the items retrieved from Thames River are juxtaposed in the most unexpected way. Dion creates his own classification system where unrelated objects are joined in a curious marriage. The unusual relationships between paired objects encourage the viewers to draw their own conclusions about their nature, purpose, and function. In a way, the artist mocks the traditional taxonomy system by bringing personal touch to its originally firm principles. He interferes with set-in-stone tradition, bringing it back to the days of the original cabinets where order of contents had a different purpose and relationship to the public. Dion’s cabinet is an installation or an interactive artistic environment that invites the viewers to closely observe the lush interior of colorful shards, scraps, and other remains. The three-dimensional contents on each shelf attract the viewers with their mass, color and shape. The mass of each object, large or small, is a solid form.
New England Digs 4
“New England Digs” – 2001
New England Digs (2001) is Mark Dion’s examination of New England’s towns of Brockton, Providence, and New Bedford, places of farms, shores and vast lands. Students from Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design participated in the dig, drawing an endless amount of glass and pieces of pottery from the selected sites. Overall, there was a versatile selection of contemporary and aged items dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. While in Providence, industrial matter was excavated from the Seekonk River and Narragansett Bay. Brockton surprised the “archeologists” with the domestic and industrial items discovered in a farm area. One may imagine the anticipation experienced by the volunteers as they extracted and cleaned the secret treasures. The objects that once had a purpose were brought back to life once again. Only this time they had a different function and relationship to one another and to us, the viewers.
Following the artist’s process of classification, newly acquired wonders were showcased within a cabinet, referring to the early collectors’ tradition of the 16th and 17th centuries. While the original cabinets functioned as pre-cursors to modern day museums, Dion’s cabinet is the aftermath of museums. It is a personal reaction to the traditional classification system which the artist repudiates through surprising arrangement of unlikely materials. Here we enter a Surrealist zone where seeing ordinary objects in an extraordinary way is quite normal. The artist used a technique of addition and subtraction in creating the installation. In other words, building up the contents of the cabinet and then taking some away aided in the creative process.
Alexander Wilson-Studio 5
“Alexander Wilson-Studio” – 1999
Alexander Wilson-Studio (1999) is quite different from Mark Dion’s dig projects. While the artists did not excavate the layers of earth for historical information, he did comb through the possessions of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Museum of Art for useful and inspirational specimen. Stuffed birds, decorative arts and various artifacts became the filling for this installation. The title of the work reflects Dion’s fascination with Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), an American (Scottish born) ornithologist, naturalist, and artist. Wilson studied birds by observing and illustrating them. His bird watching may also be described as a form of conceptual collecting that was materialized into hand drawn and painted illustrations. Published after Wilson’s death, American Ornithology demonstrates the great contribution of this talented naturalist and illustrator to natural history.
Dion’s reinvention of Wilson’s studio is based on his knowledge and appreciation of this profound figure. A small house or studio installed within a gallery is full of decorative arts, books, and other objects that might have been useful to Wilson. Nevertheless, the focus of this installation are owls that are present throughout the studio in the form of paintings, sculptures, and architectural details. Dion even painted owls with watercolor on paper which he randomly scattered all over the floor and desk to express Wilson’s own attempts at painting. In addition, several display cases also partake in the installation. The audience is invited to enter the “studio” and engage with its contents on a personal level. Alexander Wilson-Studio may also be compared to a cabinet or room of curiosities, each reflective of Dion’s perception of Wilson’s life and work. Chaotic placement of objects around the room gives one a sense of Wilson’s presence. We feel as voyeurs spying on Wilson’s private quarters after he has stepped out for a moment. This flashback into history allows us to experience the past and its relationship to the present.
The void or empty space of the studio is emphasized by a simple wooden frame that encases the space, allowing us to concentrate on the essential aspects of Wilson’s life, study, and passion. Through the combination of museum materials and personal objects, this installation merges the boundary between museum and art, creating a disordered living environment within a place of order.
