Mark Dion: Cabinet of Electrical Curiosities

Mark Dion's artistic practice combines a wide variety of techniques, from installations to sculptures and assemblage. The American artist typically explores the history of a specific place, uses a variety of found objects, and, by questioning and developing traditional museological approaches, turns to his own narration of history. With the aim of interdisciplinary examination of the way knowledge is built, he also uses impulses from other fields; archaeology, archival science, and ecology are particularly characteristic of his work.

His work for Kunsthalle Praha, Cabinet of Electrical Curiosities, contains objects found in the former Zenger Transformer Substation from its construction in the 1930s to the present day. The substation, which once supplied energy to the city's tram and trolleybus networks, is a symbol of Prague's transformation and a radical shift in the way of life of its inhabitants. Arranged as rare relics, switches, light bulbs, batteries, and other electrical components, which once facilitated a true revolution of modernity, lie on the cabinet's shelves.

"I wanted this work of art to have, in a sense, a science fiction atmosphere. As if the viewer came from a distant future and looked back to a time when energy production was seen as an absolute blessing, as something that motivates innovation and design. I think viewers will be able to read this presentation of technological optimism with some irony," Mark Dion says about his Prague cabinet.

A special selection of items was provided with texts in the accompanying publication Field Guide by Czech electrical engineering expert Milan Guštar. There are "thieves," i.e., electrical multi-sockets, induction coils, chokes, or the famous magazine Zprávy Elektrických podniků obce pražské (News of the Electrical Enterprises of the City of Prague), whose name inspired the creation of urban legends about the patron saint of tram drivers, bus drivers, and electricians – old Zepop. "My cabinets often contain jokes that refer to ready-made objects, and very often I make exclusive references to Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, or other surrealists, with whom my relationship to objects partly overlaps. This work also has its Easter eggs for me, for example, countless glass insulators, which act as supremely designed objects playing with all sorts of colors," adds Dion.

Christelle Havranek also highlights the primary role of the cabinet's aesthetic dimension: "Despite its importance, the preservation of memory is not the only function of the Cabinet of Electrical Curiosities. To acquire Dion means to call upon a poet, a thinker, a researcher who explores the contemporary world. After a period dedicated to research in Prague and New York, Dion, with the help of project manager Matěj Al-Ali, prepared a unique collection. His method of arranging and displaying this collection defies the strictly thematic, chronological arrangement usually found in museums. Instead, Dion created a subjective narrative that combines thoroughness with imagination, balancing on the border between reality and fiction," says the curator.

Mark Dion's work, which he began in 2018 concurrently with the renovation of Kunsthalle itself, is now permanently installed on the third floor of the building. It will be accessible once the entire institution opens its doors. The very nature of the Cabinet of Electrical Curiosities – partly a didactic collection, partly an eclectic accumulation of objects that mixes references to the past with reflections on the present – accurately captures the identity of Kunsthalle Praha. A place dedicated to the creation of yesterday and today, where reality meets imagination and where art teaches, surprises, and moves emotionally.

More about the project can be found in an interview with the artist, conducted by Kunsthalle Praha's chief curator, Christelle Havranek.

LIMITED MARK DION PRINT

A visual homage to the electro-history of the Kunsthalle Praha building. A signed collector's item from a series of 50 copies.

MARK DION

The American artist has won many awards and collaborated with major institutions around the world, including the Neukom Vivarium (2006), a permanent outdoor installation and educational laboratory at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, Washington...