Mark DionArt Studio Presentation by:

Alana Hussain

Lydia Morris

Alex Cload

Introduction to Mark Dion

• Mark Dion (Born 1961) is an American Sculptor and Installation artist.

• He studied Fine Art at The Hartford Art School, the VisualArts School in New York and later followed an independent program at the Whitney Museum of American Art before returning to Hartford to complete his BFA.

• Between 1986 -1990, he worked as Ashley Bickerton’s (Conceptual artist) studio assistant.

• Due to his unique methods and style, Dion has earnedhimself a great reputation for his installations throughout the USA and Europe.

DION, Mark, ‘Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit’, 8th April 2011

What are his influences?

• Dion is interested in the way that scientists perceive nature and how that affects our culture.

• He focuses his practice on subjects regarding thenatural sciences including archeology, ecology and zoology.

‘Nature is one of the most sophisticated arenas for the production of ideology’

-Mark Dion

https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/mark-dion-methodology-short/

If we have time:Here is a short video clip to explain how Dion processes the scientific information he has collected to later transform it into artworks. Please only watch up to 1:06 for this information

Who are his influences?

• Joseph Beuys (1921-86) – German Sculptor and Installation artist who worked with socialist and humanist ideas

• Robert Smithson (1938-73) – American artist who used photography to document his sculpture and landscape/ land art.

BEUYS, Joseph, ‘7000 Oak Trees’, Kassel, Germany,

1982

SMITHSON, Robert, ‘Ithaca Mirror Trail’, Ithaca, New York, 1969

Journal article we used for research

Book we used for research:

E-book : Colleen J. Sheehy Cabinet of Curiosities: Mark Dion and the University as Installation (University of Minnesota Press, 2006)

We used the book ‘Cabinet of Curiosities: Mark Dion and the University as installation’

Summary of Book:This book is compiled of richly illustrated essays that have recorded the processes and methods that the artist Mark Dion has gone through and still does enact during the preparation and making of his installations, sculptures, drawings and so forth. The essays aim to dissect and critically analyse Dion’s numerous exhibition and comments on the similarities between Dion’s practice and the scientific ideologies regarding nature and culture.

Scholarly article we used for research

Artist’s website we used for research:

Artwork we have chosen to focus on:

What materials and medias have they used?

How have they considered the appearance of this work?Form:

Scale:

Colour:Texture:

Space:

Volume:

Links between the parts:

Relationship between the elements:

Why did Dion make these choices?

What is the focal/ central point?

What could the title be referring to?

What does the work remind us of?

What does Dion generally explore in their practice?

What is this piece telling us and what is ittrying to do?

What feelings and reactions are evoked through this piece?

Have they been influenced by other artists?

Are there any political, social, historical or religious influences being shown?

Our opinions of the work

References and citations/ Bibliography/ sourcesSlide 2

Image of Mark Dion:https://art21.org/artist/mark-dion/

Information used in the introduction and information on Dion’s life/art projects found at: http://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/artists/mark-dion/series

Image of Seagull Sculpture: DION, Mark, ‘Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit’, 8th April 2011

The Southbank Centre Makes Final Preparations For The Festival Of Britain Anniversary Celebrations. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Accessed Feb 11, 2018.

https://quest.eb.com/search/115_3848096/1/115_3848096/cite.

Information on Mark Dion’s life and education found at:http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000096765

…Which had been influenced by:

•True Stories (exh. cat., essay I. BLAZWICK and E. DEXTER, London, ICA, 1992)

•L. G. CORRIN, M. KWON and N. BRYSON: Mark Dion (London, 1997) [includes selection of artist’s writings]

•Mark Dion: Tate Thames Dig, 26 October 1999–27 February 2000 (exh. cat., London, Tate, 1999)

•W. J. T. MITCHELL: ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction’, Modernism/Modernity, 10/3 (2003), pp. 481–500

•C. COPELAND: ‘Mark Dion Considered’, Exposure, 42/1 (Spring 2009), pp. 44–8

External resources

•Dion, Mark: Tate Thames Dig, 1999, Tate (London)

Link to info on Ashley Bickerton: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000096706?product=groveart#oao-9781884446054-e-7000096706

Slide 3

Information on Dion’s influences and quote found at: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000096765

Video clip found at:https: //art21.org/watch/extended-play/mark-dion-methodology-short/

Slide 4

Information on Joseph Beuys and image of BEUYS, Joseph, ‘7000 Oak Trees’, Kassel, Germany, 1982found at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-beuys-747

Information on Robert Smithson and image of SMITHSON, Robert, ‘Ithaca Mirror Trail’, Ithaca, New York, 1969 found at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-smithson-4541

Slide 6

E-book: Sheehy, Colleen J., ed. Cabinet of Curiosities : Mark Dion and the University as Installation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/reading/detail.action?docID=310870# - Found using https://www.reading.ac.uk/library/

Summary of E-book (above link) found at: https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/cabinet-of-curiosities