Mark Dion

Mark Dion’s inSITE2000 project, Blind/Hide, included the construction of a bird blind sited in the Tijuana River Estuary Reserve. Camouflaged to blend into the surrounding terrain, the structure was outfitted as a fully functional field station and mecca for bird enthusiasts. The interior housed photographs, charts, and reference books on the 370 bird species that could be found at the reserve, as well as the devices, guides, and art materials that might have been useful to a nineteenth-century naturalist. The public was welcome to visit the blind daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by way of a three-mile hike from the park entrance.

Located in Imperial Beach in southwest San Diego and within view of the border fence, the Tijuana River Estuary remains an especially unique confluence of environmental, military, and geopolitical issues. While the reserve is found at the most polluted estuary in the United States, it is simultaneously home to the most species of migratory birds that make this site an important stop on their journey. In addition to wildlife, visitors to the blind would likely observe people attempting to cross the border along the beach, suburban teenagers riding BMX bikes, as well as the daily training exercises of military helicopters from the US Navy base located just east of the reserve. Dion observed this place as a landscape of mischief, constructing an architectural installation whose ambiguity from a distance emerged earnestly as a birdwatcher’s paradise and educational center.

Curators: Susan Buck-Morss, Ivo Mesquita, Osvaldo Sánchez, and Sally Yard
Venue: Tijuana River Estuary and Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Imperial Beach

Acknowledgments