Photos from top left to bottom right: -New Dakota Catalog, -Seymour (See-More) Glasses, -Seymouring Pro Stretched Basketball, Florida 135 Special Gun, -Beach Soccer Ball, -Welcome Infiltrator, - Plastic Florida, -untitled 5000 piece object shown in rooms of the Frankfurt Opera House, -the Skiet-veld Chair, -New Dakota wall object, -Murray’s World, -SRS
By far the “New Dakota” show was Dirk Marwig’s most diverse and comprehensive, which now clearly demonstrated his prolific creative genius and showing his mastery of working and combining materials to perfection in order to express his ideas. Strangely enough there was hardly any mention of it in the media except for the obligatory Frankfurt Art Gallery Schedule calendar and one written article by the Frankfurter “Neue Presse”. It said that the show should be kept and relocated “just in the way it was presented at the gallery as a permanent installation to a museum”. Unfortunately, this never occurred. The politics of a small-minded Frankfurt art community were to blame for that. Dirk Marwig’s work was original, unconventional and many people including the “know-it-alls” of the media were all too bewildered and confused. But was this not exactly the point and the theme of the show? The “New Dakota” Zen Garden- or poem? , “To confuse in order to enlighten?” Hello! Wake Up! Only young people seemed to understand and appreciate it. Groups of art and design students from the southern parts of Germany travelled especially to Frankfurt to see his show and this was probably the best thing that happened during the three-month long period. Today, only the photos of the catalogue exist of this original, one-time fabulous event. During the period of the exhibition, only three pieces were sold, one being the ‘untitled’ “5000piece plywood disc object” to the Frankfurt Opera House and another two small pieces being bought by the gallery owner himself. Uncountable hours went into the preparation and realization of this show and the result of it was very disappointing publicity-wise and financially. Dirk Marwig returned to Spain and gave it one more shot being invited to show a compilation of his work in the spaces of the Goethe Institute, the affiliate of the German Embassy in Madrid. Here is the invitation: