During an extended residency at La Brea Tar Pits, contemporary artist Mark Dion assisted with excavations, cleaned fossils, shadowed a taxidermist, explored collections and archives, and interviewed curators, educators, and floor staff. His new installation at the Tar Pits, Mark Dion: Excavations, deliberately evokes a behind-the-scenes space, displaying new work alongside early museum murals, dioramas, and maquettes of Ice Age mammals. Dion’s 10-foot-long sculpture of a fossilized pack rat skeleton stands atop a mix of natural and cultural detritus from the Tar Pits and the Hancock Park neighborhood. Pack rats’ dung and nests include organic material that can date back tens of thousands of years, making them valuable to scientists trying to understand past ecosystems. Additionally, six new drawings by Dion of mammal skeletons commonly found in the Tar Pits—artworks painstakingly labeled with the names of locally important scientists, artists, historical figures, and landmarks—further blend artifice and reality. A new field guide to Hancock Park highlights the flora and fauna of the area, as well as the Tar Pits’ cultural and scientific importance.

Mark Dion: Excavations Higher Education Curricular Resource