Art21 Extended Play

Mark Dion | Methodology

EXCLUSIVE: Mark Dion at his Pennsylvania home and studio.

Mark Dion’s work examines the ways in which dominant ideologies and public institutions shape our understanding of history, knowledge, and the natural world. Appropriating archeological and other scientific methods of collecting, ordering, and exhibiting objects, Dion creates artworks that question the distinctions between “objective” (“rational”) scientific methods and “subjective” (“irrational”) influences.

Mark Dion, “Costume Bureau,” 2006. Photo by Chris Burke Studio. Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.

SEE: More images, videos, and news for Mark Dion.

LEARN: Mark Dion is featured in the Season 4 (2007) episode Ecology of the Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS.

DISCUSS: What do you think about this video? Leave a comment!

PHOTO | Mark Dion, Costume Bureau, 2006. Photo by Chris Burke Studio. Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.

VIDEO | Producer: Susan Sollins & Nick Ravich. Camera: Joel Shapiro. Sound: Roger Phenix. Editor: Steven Wechsler.