Mark Dion On Bringing An Amateur's Love To His Artwork

13:33

October 30, 2017

Meghna Chakrabarti
Zoë Mitchell

Mark Dion, The Library for the Birds of New York/The Library for the Birds of Massachusetts (detail), 2016/2017. (John Kennard/ICA).

Mark Dion, an artist and a would-be archaeologist, has made a career out of collecting. He brings, what he calls, an amateurs pure love to his work, digging through flea markets and fish markets, abandoned warehouses and the like.

All to create installations that ask us to ask ourselves... what do our human created environments tell us about our relationship to nature?

Mark Dion, Toys R U.S (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth),1994. Mixed media, dimensions variable. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Photo by John Kennard. © Mark Dion — Mark Dion, Toys R U.S (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth), 1994. Mixed media, dimensions variable. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Photo by John Kennard. © Mark Dion

Dion's work began as a child, where he accumulating things in and around his hometown of New Bedford. Since then, he has traveled around the world creating pieces from the nature that surrounding him.

But, for the first U.S. survey of his work, he returned home to Massachusetts.

Mark Dion, New Bedford Cabinet, 2001. Wooden-and-glass cabinet and dig finds, 104 × 74 × 19 inches (264.2 × 188 × 48.3 cm). The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, General Acquisition Fund. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. Photo by John Kennard. © Mark Dion

Guest

Mark Dion is a contemporary artist. "The Misadventures of a 21st Century Naturalists" is the first U.S. Survey of his work. It will be on display at the Institute of Contemporary Art until December 31.

This segment aired on October 30, 2017.