Lecture date: 1999-10-22
Mark Dion blurs the line between artist and scientist. As part of Tate Moderns pre-opening programme, he spent the summer of 1999 with local volunteers beach combing the foreshore of the Thames at Millbank opposite Tate Britain, and at Bankside in front of Tate Modern. The aim was to explore London’s rich cultural and industrial history through its material remains – artefacts found in the mud and gravel of its beaches. Finds were cleaned, examined and then classified according to location (and loosely by type). They were then housed in a double-sided mahogany chest in the style of a cabinet of curiosities.
Dion discusses this project and other examples of his work that explore the intersection of art and archaeology, collecting and display.
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