David Wilson

About David's Work

David Wilson is an artist, a designer, and the curator of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, a provocative commentary on how we organize and archive cultural artifacts. Through his collection of biological, archaeological, and cultural curiosities in the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Wilson blurs the distinctions among museum, mausoleum, and library. His installations question what museums are, mean, and do. Fact and fiction are displayed with equal precision and diligence, and natural history items share space with artifacts of surreal technology. His displays challenge perceptions of what is real and what is not, and demand reinterpretations of our understanding of science, natural history, mythology, and vernacular art forms. Wilson’s work underscores the fragility of our beliefs, and at the same time, highlights the remarkable potential of the human imagination.

Biography

David Wilson received a B.A. (1969) from Kalamazoo College and studied filmmaking at the California Institute of the Arts. Wilson is the director of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, which he founded in 1984 to provide "traveling collections" for galleries, community centers, and museums. In 1988, the permanent home of the museum was established in Culver City, California.

Last updated January 1, 2005.