A Journey To The Underworld
Written by Ellie Gibson
April 22, 2025
Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman’s collaborative exhibition, Journey to Nature’s Underworld, utilizes playtivism, a concept of pairing comedy with activism, in order to deliver the growing global ecocrisis through a new, exciting approach. Incorporating a playful approach encourages people to engage with climate action. Many environmental activists and the general public face burnout from climate change. Playtivism is a way of combating that burnout to encourage the continued fight against the changing climate. Playtivism combines creativity, collaboration, and activism to drive bold, impactful change¹.
As I studied Dion and Rockman’s artworks, I realized their perspective held an even more critical eye toward science and its hold on society than I, as a student of science, had ever thought about. Several artworks that are on view in the exhibition offer great examples of playtivism; allow me to take you through them. Alexis Rockman’s The Farm draws one in with comedy and fun. In The Farm, we see a rectangular cow and the multi-winged chicken, a humorous vision, but once you look at the painting a moment longer, a dark reality becomes apparent. Though this painting is created in an aesthetic of bright colors, child-like simplicity, and fun to invite the viewer in while the message of genetic engineering is delivered with a powerful blow. The message is seen in the expression of the cow’s eyes, exhausted from the weight we force her to carry. It is seen in the show dog ribbon, as it is known that humans have bred dogs for years for specific aesthetics. The message displayed that humanity has become all too comfortable bending the laws of nature to better suit itself.
This exhibition, though humorous, is a comment on how humans have been affecting, and much of the time hurting, the Earth. Playtivisim is seen in the comedy of Mark Dion’s Institute for Invertebrate Marine Biology through the use of both child and dog toys. The artist displays these in glass lab jars filled with liquid. 
Did the viewer mistake the contents for marine invertebrates for just a moment? Dion replaces the expected preserved marine invertebrates with plastic toys, evoking the fact that humans continue to discard them, and they often end up polluting the ocean. Thus, taking the place of the marine invertebrates. Humor grips the observer, keeping one looking longer at the jars on the shelves. Mark Dion’s Cabinet of Marine Debris pulls you in with its colorful and odd items, carefully arranged to entice the viewer in a beautifulrainbow of different pieces of plastic, all collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
As a Marine Affairs major at the University of Miami, I have heard time and time again of the damage being done to our planet. I hear it every day in every class: the plastic waste and its effects on the environment, how the environment is changing from global warming, and that it is up to my generation to fix it. 
To see an exhibition that is critical of science felt like a breath of fresh air because, though it might be up to my generation, it feels increasingly like a burden we are being asked to carry alone. Journey to Nature’s Underworld works to expand awareness through playtivism’s effective use of humor to draw viewers in, so that the burden of effort feels lighter on one’s shoulders. The show bridges the gap that has been built between science and the rest of the world so we can all work together to preserve, save, and grow nature rather than continue the journey into its underworld.
References:
¹Tavanier, Y. B. (n.d.). Playtivism. Playtivism. https://playtivism.org/
Images:
(Header Image) Alexis Rockman, The Farm, 2000. Oil and acrylic on wood panel, 96 x 120 inches. Collection of Joy of Giving Something, Inc., New York. Courtesy American Federation of Arts
(In-Text Images) Installation of Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature's Underworld at the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL., on view February 14, 2025 – July 19, 2025. Image courtesy of the Lowe Art Museum. © Steven Brooke
