Mark Dion. Concerning Hunting

Concerning Hunting is a unique exhibition about the complex relationship between hunting and nature. Paradoxically the hunter’s unique knowledge of the outdoors is used for killing animals as well as protecting nature. Mark Dion does not assess the hunting culture but exhibits it exactly as a culture that has come into existence as an arrangement between man and nature – and that constitutes one of the oldest professions of mankind. Children and adults alike can find stories at this exhibition that presents itself as a festival for the senses – while at the same time it enters into a relevant discussion about the relationship between nature, culture and story telling. Most conspicuous is the installation of five hunting hides measuring up to eight meters in height. The visitors are invited to climb ladders and enter into intimate spaces each relating its own story about different types of hunters and their relationship to hunting. For instance we meet the well-read hunter with his book case and well groomed hunting equipment; the consuming hunter with sausages, wine and cigars; and the sloppy hunter, whose used cartridges are spread out over the floor along with beer cans and porn magazines. These spaces have an authentic presence, but at the same time they function as a sort of museum-like space left by the hunter, so that now they present themselves as historical residue. Moreover the exhibition contains hunting banners, targets, drawings plus photographs of hunters and their prey. The photographs have been collected at flea markets all over the world and have been supplemented with photographs from Denmark. The visitors are not only challenged to examine the elaborate details of the installations but also to examine their own desires and prejudices in their understanding of nature. How would we understand nature if it were not divided into hierarchies? How would the hunting hides affect us if certain objects were replaced with others? Would the story change?

Mark Dion (b. 1961, USA) graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1984 and is working within the fields of drawing, photography and installations. He has participated in a number of exhibitions in Europe as well as the USA. The exhibition is the result of an international collaboration between Denmark, Austria, Germany and Italy and has been curated by the director of the Kunsthalle Krems, Dr. Dieter Buchhart, and MA Verena Gamper. In connection with the exhibition the German Hatje Cantz Verlag will publish a 160-page catalogue with texts in German and English written by the curators Dieter Buchhart and Verena Gamper, curator Angela Vettese and professor, dr.phil. Jacob Wamberg. The exhibition is sponsored by the BG Fund, the C.A.C. Fund and Knud Højgaard’s Fund.

Mark Dion
CONCERNING HUNTING

Stationen:
08.11.09 - 14.02.10 Kunsthalle Krems
16.05.09 - 11.10.09 Herbert-Gerisch Stiftung, Neumünster
01.02.09 - 26.04.09 Galleria Civica Modena
28.06.08 - 19.10.08 Aarhus Kunstbygning
04.04.08 - 01.06.08 Kunstraum Dornbirn