The Infinite Mix at The Hayward Gallery

A review of 'The Infinite Mix' at The Hayward Gallery

The Infinite Mix at The Hayward Gallery

In December 2016, I went to see the exhibition The Infinite Mix at the Hayward Gallery, a Gallery that has been temporarily relocated to The Strand in an empty concrete space with a very urban feel. The Hayward Gallery is here for 2 years and I would recommend checking out this space, even for other exhibitions.

I chose this exhibition as it featured ten audio visual artworks and I was initially planning to add some video footage to my music and I was interested in the way the artists would put together music and film footage. It was the first time I had ever been to such an exhibition.

Each of the artist's work was extremely different, very unique and creative. For example in the basement you had to put on 3D glasses to watch Cyprien Gaillard's piece Nightlife. This piece was very mesmerising as it featured a tree in an urban Los Angeles scene swaying to the music of Alton Ellis reggae rhythm Blackman's World before taking the audience to the Olympic stadium in Berlin during the Nazi era and finally to a school of one of the Olympic medaliists. It was not completely obvious how the whole piece fitted together – but I found the use of music and images interlinked together was interesting and thought provoking.

One of the most unusual pieces was some black men in a suburban living room dancing erotically with pieces of furniture to the music of Sonic Youth. I liked the song and the general rhythm but I was less keen on the vocals.

Overall, I really enjoyed the variety of the event and how different it was compared to other exhibitions I have been to. I like how they used both music and videography to create an atmosphere, tell a story and engage your emotions.

What I liked less was that often the messages of the pieces were quite obscure and I struggled to always grasp the meaning of the work.

However, I would definitely recommend the exhibition, as it is in a very unique setting, it is very thought-provoking and usual. As there are 10 different artists, you might not like all of them but you will find something you like or that interests you or provokes you.

I learnt how two different art forms can be combined to tell a story and how that can be potentially more interesting and engaging for the audience. I am interested in doing that in my next project but I am glad that for my first project I have focused on developing one new art form.

This is a user generated post from our wider Voice community and was not edited by the Voice team. We would love to hear your views too! Sign up for an account and make your Voice heard!

1 Comments

  • Luke Taylor

    On 26 June 2017, 10:36 Luke Taylor Contributor commented:

    Sonic Youth?!

Post A Comment

You must be signed in to post a comment. Click here to sign in now