Productive day at V&A East Storehouse. It is a major step forward in the right direction of what museums can be.

Signs of Hamilton, Ohio

David Klocker Ehrenstrahl. Polar Bear 1686 The National Museum, Stockholm. My favorite painting in the collection

MARK DION - HIFLOW - Geneve Hybridations Fertiles 🌱 Hybridations Fertiles Exposition collective du 28.04 au 30.07 @markdionstudio Sous le commissariat de Séverine Redon @sevartdicted @hiflow_geneva Scénographie Lou Revel @jean__loup Artistes & designers :  Mathis Baltisberger, Romain Bernini, Bestioles Games, Agnès Bourély, Carine Bovey, Basile Brun, Thomas Buswell, Julian Charrière, Odonchimeg Davaadorj, Entangled Others – MBAL Orbit_E, Laurent Le Deunff, Mark Dion, Marc Facchinetti, Christian Gonzenbach, Victoria Jospin, Sylvie Lambert, Sarah Meylan, Roman Moriceau, Lucien Murat, Bakula Nayak, Carmen Perrin, Léopold Rabus, Lou Revel, Maya Rochat, Léa Rinn, Stefan Rinck, Symbiosis – HEAD Genève et Adrien Vescovi. Dialoguer avec le vivant. « Hybridations fertiles » explore les multiples formes de rencontres et d’entrelacements entre humains, non-humains, savoirs et temporalités. Le.la visiteur.se est invité.e à investir l’espace, à s’interroger, à entrer en connivence avec ces artistes, chercheurs.euses et designers, et à tenter, comme elle.eux, de dialoguer avec le vivant en sortant de l’anthropocentrisme — cette idée selon laquelle lʼêtre humain serait au centre de tout — pour reconnaître aux autres espèces une forme dʼintelligence, dʼagentivité, et renouer avec elles des liens sensibles. « Voici le paradoxe : pour contribuer à un futur qui assure le soin des humains, il faut transformer notre anthropologie philosophique dans une direction où on ne s’identifie plus dʼabord comme des humains. Pour le bien des humains, puisque cʼest à lʼévidence un enjeu central des crises à venir, il faut se penser dʼabord vivants. » — Baptiste Morizot, Raviver les braises du vivant. Plus de 50 œuvres et installations composent ce paysage sensible, où artistes et designers, de générations et d’horizons variés, convoquent observation, expérimentation et émerveillement comme autant de chemins pour renouer. Oeuvre : MARK DION Portrait of the curator, 2019 Photo @lannes.thomas

"Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature's Underworld" offers a compelling exploration of the bond between humans and the natural world. Renowned for their rigorous research and scientific approach to art, Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman examine the far-reaching consequences of human activity on fragile ecosystems. Infused with allegory and dark humor, their works blur the boundaries between natural history and vivid imagination. In works like this, environments are not simply observed; they are constructed, disrupted, and ultimately held up as mirrors of human impact. By juxtaposing beauty with decay, Dion and Rockman prompt viewers to confront our collective responsibility in the face of ongoing environmental crisis. This Earth Day, we’re reminded that art can do more than reflect our environments, it can challenge us to see them differently, and to act. We hope you're able to get outside and appreciate this beautiful world today! 🌎 Image credits - Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman (with Aaron Delehanty, Loud Cow Studio) "American Landscape," 2022 Mixed-media diorama with taxidermy, found objects, and painted background 96 in x 16 ft. x 87 in. Courtesy the artists and American Federation of Arts

Highlights from a trip to Medelhavs Museet in Stockholm.

—————— Mark Dion The Chamber of Graphs, Charts and Timelines 16.04 – 16.05.2026 ”The Extinction Cabinet” was exhibited at Akvarell Museet in Sweden in 2023 and relies heavily on sculptural elements depicting animals and material that has become extinct or is at risk of doing so. The various sculptures and components presented in the wooden cabinet are composed out of resin and plaster, allowing for an impression of both real artefact and whimsical distortion of natural elements.

—————— Mark Dion The Chamber of Graphs, Charts and Timelines 16.04 – 16.05.2026 ”The Salmon of Knowledge” offers a condensed and serious introduction to the power of representation of the natural world and sciences, where the salmon rests stoutly on top of piles of matter, most recognisable elements from our everyday lives, entrenched in tar. The use of tar, a nod to petroleum culture, is something the artist has used avidly in his work since 1988. In “The Salmon of Knowledge”, Dion creates a clear link between the mythological story of The Salmon of Knowledge and the very real present dangers that exist in current global society. The Celtic myth of tells the story of a king and a salmon that lived in a well that is situated underneath The Tree of Knowledge. According to the myth; hazelnuts from the tree would fall into the well, the salmon ate the hazelnuts, thus gaining the tree’s knowledge. After many attempts the king finally manages to capture and kill the salmon, asking a young boy who works at the court to prepare the salmon. The king plans to eat the salmon and become all-knowing. The boy touches the fish to see if it is ready, then licks his finger, tasting the fish, subsequently becoming filled with all of the salmon’s knowledge. The king immediately knows what has transpired and sees to it that the boy becomes his most prised and trusted advisor. For the artist, salmon culture is inherent in how we function and communicate in western society; several western myths find their foundation in salmon culture, and many European cities are built on the site of salmon runs. Salmon runs are places where salmon was found in the waterways in abundance. As salmon was and is seen as incredibly valuable, perhaps one of the most valuable and healthy wild foodstuffs, packed with nutrients. The myth of The Salmon of Knowledge also acts as a warning of what happens when acts of greed fuel our actions, killing the heroic and wise salmon for personal gain.

My new classroom for The Stockholm School of Economics. Completed today.

Amazing Sergal exhibition at the National Museum in Stockholm— “Ceres Searching for Proserpina” 1785

Two pages of the 86 page sketchbook of Johan Tobias Sergel depicting fish in Rome. 1867-1778.

Closing April 20th | The Melancholy Museum: Love, Death, and Mourning at Stanford, a project by @markdionstudio 🏛 Using over 700 items from the Stanford Family Collections, this exhibition explores how Leland Stanford Jr.’s death at age 15 led to the creation of a museum, university, and—by extension—the entire Silicon Valley. The result of Dion’s efforts are two rooms filled with beautiful, startling, and quirky objects that are grouped together to highlight the Stanford family’s story and to invite visitors to reflect and make their own connections. Explore the Melancholy Museum one last time before we make room to tell a new chapter of the Stanfords' story🔎 Subscribe to our newsletter at the link in bio for future exhibition announcements!