Marc Swanson: A Memorial to Ice at the Dead Deer Disco

Marc Swanson works across diverse media, creating sculptures and environments that explore the relationships between humans, culture, and the natural world. His most ambitious installation to date, A Memorial to Ice at the Dead Deer Disco is inspired by the dioramas found in natural history museums as well as Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole’s (1801–1848) writings on the negative effects of development in the Catskills region. Additionally, Swanson references the disco, which he explores in relation to freedom and mourning during the AIDS crisis. Taken together, these references create an installation that confronts loss and our inability to control human nature and the world around us. A companion exhibition will go on view July 16 – November 27, 2022, at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY.