Mark Dion has focused on the question of how knowledge is created and communicated in the system. Toys, typically designed by adults for children, hold significant meaning as they convey specific ideas about their world. Through toys, children enact certain role models and, in the process, are exposed to various themes and ideologies.
For this exhibition, Mark Dion spent several months researching approximately 70,000 objects from the Stadtmuseum Berlin's vast collection, one of the largest toy collections in Germany. He created several installations, including a pyramid of animals, and a circuit with an imaginary race. Dolls, military toys, and a "poison cabinet" filled with borderline and cross-border toys are also part of the exhibition, offering a critical exploration of the complexity and cultural implications of play.
Mark Dion illustrates how a daily object like a toy functions as a cultural phenomenon and explores how the boundaries between reality and fantasy become blurred.
(Refer to Bundeskunsthalle and Stadtmuseum Berlin)
