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- 2005 (Creation)
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Installation photographs of the solo exhibition 'Mark Dion: Microcosmographia' which took place at the South London Gallery from 9 September to 30 October 2005. Prehistoric reptiles, gigantic mammals and live piranhas were among the curiosities used in the exhibition. In the main gallery, huge creatures and fantastic visions from the natural world were used to explore the evolution of natural history while in the SLG’s Secret Garden, Dion made a new site-specific and evolving commission for the SLG. The centre piece of the exhibition was a life-sized replica of a beached prehistoric aquatic reptile, known as Ichthyosaur, with relics from the history of the natural sciences spilling from its belly.
For Dion’s commission, Biological Field Unit, a team of botanists, entomologists and artists conducted a detailed survey of plant and insect life in the SLG’s Secret Garden. Working from a specially constructed research station, the team collected, documented and displayed their findings using traditional hand illustration and photographic methods.
Microcosmographia and the related education programme were supported by Bloomberg and received additional funding from Arts Council England and The Henry Moore Foundation. The Secret Garden Biological Field Unit was made possible by the support of Bloomberg and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Richard Bugman Jones, Victoria Papworth (Botany Curator for the Natural History Museum), Lucy Smith (Botanical Illustrator for Kew Gardens) were part of the The Secret Garden Biological Field Unit team.