Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions

mer., 20 nov. 2024, 19h00 – 20h00

More information to follow

Mark Dion's work explores the complex relationship between humans and the natural world, inviting us to question and re-evaluate our assumptions and cultural biases. In this public discussion, Dion will be in conversation with Bernard Vienat, founder of reconnecting.earth and curator of the exhibition. Together, they will examine how his work within the nomadic Biennial shifts meaning across two contrasting contexts: the white-cube Stadtgalerie Kiel and the natural history-focused Zoologisches Museum Kiel.

The conversation will center on several works presented in both museums, including installations and drawings from different periods of Dion’s career. It will explore how the distinct contexts of the art gallery and the science museum shape a critical perspective on our cultural perception of the natural world, questioning whether the gallery’s minimal setting encourages a more introspective engagement and how the museum’s scientific framework may guide interpretation through historical and scientific lenses. The dialogue will examine how these contexts reveal our cultural and historical attitudes toward nature, inviting a reconsideration of our often human-centered perspectives and showing how art can prompt a critical rethinking of our relationship with the natural world.

Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions with . Wed, Nov 20, 2024
Mark Dion, Alligator Mississippiensis, 2015, Crocodile skeleton replica, found flea market objects, bitumen, glass vitrine, shipping crate, 160h × 130w × 95.50d cm, Courtesy Nagel Draxler, Exhibition view, Zoologisches Museum Kiel. – Hans Noffke
Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions with . Wed, Nov 20, 2024
Mark Dion, The Fisheries, 2016, 2016, Paint, acqua-resin, rope, string, wood, nails, 250h × 496w × 90d cm, Courtesy Galerie Nagel Draxler, Exhibition view (re)connecting.earth, Stadtgalerie Kiel.
Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions with . Wed, Nov 20, 2024
View of the central hall of the Museum of Zoology, with works by Mark Dion and Andreas Greiner installed with the collection in the display cabinets. – Hans Noffke
Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions with . Wed, Nov 20, 2024
Exhibition view, Zoologisches Museum Kiel. – Zoologisches Museum Kiel - Jutta Drabek
Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions with . Wed, Nov 20, 2024
Bookstall - The Natural World, 2015, Wood, metal, lacquer, books, postcards, prints, drawings, cord and clothespins, 187h × 183.50w × 90d cm, Courtesy Gallery Nagel Draxler, xhibition view (re)connecting.earth, Stadtgalerie Kiel. – Hans Noffke
Conversation with Mark Dion: The Museum of Natural History and Other Fictions with . Wed, Nov 20, 2024
Mark Dion, Bookstall - The Natural World, 2015, Wood, metal, lacquer, books, postcards, prints, drawings, cord and clothespins, 187h × 183.50w × 90d cm, Courtesy Gallery Nagel Draxler, xhibition view (re)connecting.earth, Stadtgalerie Kiel.