Artist Mark Dion stands among the most influential figures working within this archival paradigm. His encyclopedic approach draws intuitively from materials that allow him to probe the systems shaping our understanding of history, knowledge and the natural world. And the more time you put in, the more you start to understand value in a very different way. “It’s all about what those representations tell us about how—and why—we’ve developed this strange, almost suicidal relationship to the planet,” Dion observes. Many scientists—especially in the natural sciences—are incredibly skilled draftspeople.”Early on, Dion imagined a different path.