Mark Dion

Since the late 1980s Dion has been delving into the tropes and research methods of scientists, explorers, museum curators and archaeologists. He has created a body of work that playfully presents art as scientific inquiry or field work, questioning how knowledge is gathered, classified and displayed.

The five installations documented here incorporate diverse subjects: a scholar’s study invites us to unravel intricate drawings and models; a curator’s office displays the strange magic of obsolete things; the muddy banks of the Thames have also yielded their treasures for poetic display in a gigantic cabinet; while a Dickensian Curiosity Shop tempts us with the bizarre aura of American bric-a-brac. Each immersive environment is also a habitat, evoking the characters that observe, conserve or exploit the natural world.

The catalogue features new short essays on each of the exhibited works, an interview between the artist and Iwona Blazwick and a reprint of a short story by National Book Award for Fiction winner Andrea Barrett.

Presented as an alternative survey of some of the curious aspects of New York’s iconic High Line, this Field Guide by American artist Mark Dion (born 1961) provides an account of the wildlife, plants and insects that inhabit the space, as well as essays considering the social context and history of the site.

Full of peculiar observations, rumors, speculations and mostly true facts, the Field Guide encourages viewers to question popular ideologies that define today’s “official” history of the elevated park. It includes “thoughts, musings and histories,” such as a timeline of events on the High Line, a “concise” guide to the wildlife and illustrated guide to the plants of the area, Facts, Myths, & Rumors and even a Lost & Found section.

Facts, Myths & Rumors is particularly illustrative of Dion’s characteristic oscillation between fact and fiction. The section consists of a list of uncategorized statements, ranging from serious declarations (“the High Line once extended to Spring Street”) to more humorous musings (“the ghost of the West Side Cowboy has been seen and heard around the West 20th Street section of the park”). Dion leaves the viewer to separate truth from myth.

Taken as a whole, the text encourages imagination and inquiry rather than dictating fact, asking the viewer to play a role in shaping his or her own version of history. Dion’s Field Guide is a colorful introduction offering new perspective on the High Line.