This semester, the School of Art Gallery is showcasing an exhibition by Canadian contemporary artist Hank Bull.
The exhibition, called Connexion, is on display until Dec. 2 and showcases the artist’s archives gathered from years of working in a studio and features objects and souvenirs of activity and collaboration acquired over time.
Bull selected sculptural pieces, media pieces, artworks, and numerous articles to highlight the energy, diversity, and experimentation of his practice. As a result, the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery has been transformed from its typical silent serenity to an interactive and busy space for the Connexion exhibition.
The gallery’s ambience is clouded by a choir of sound from low hums and distant music to voices and sounds that are meant to be discovered as you make your journey through the gallery.
Jamie Wright, the gallery’s project assistant, helped Bull in installing the exhibition.
“It’s pretty cool, he’s actually tuned the entire show so that all the sound pieces create a musical composition,” said Wright.
“They all adhere to a certain modal structure and he bookends that with the piano located in the far corner. He’s handwritten a little piece of sheet music with the core notes that cycle through the sounds that are out loud. He’s hoping people will sit down and actually play the exhibition.”
There is no shortage of pieces in the gallery – as you move through there are many different artworks that showcase different stages of an artist’s journey. There are large files that contain ephemera from years of studio practice, videos, props, and a variety of Dada art pieces.
“There are so many small things and so many details. The works need to have a dialogue with one another and that can get lost in translation,” said Wright.
Hank Bull’s Connexion is on display for free at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery (255 ARTlab, 180 Dafoe Road) until Dec. 2.
