Mark Dion -- Department of Cryptozoology

Often considered a marginalized science or farcical adventure, the practice of cryptozoology is the quest for unknown, rumored or hidden animals. Its most notorious pursuits include the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, although it has also revealed animals that are now part of the classified natural world.

Since the mid-1980s, Mark Dion has been intensely concerned with the history of how we engage with nature and the category of natural sciences. His rigorous methodologies uncover the ways in which different representations of nature are tied up within ideological discourses and how aesthetics can be appropriated by power systems for their own end. His visually powerful works, rich in wonderous material, inspire the beholder to question their convictions, wishes, and ideas in relation to the social category of “nature.”