Bell Face

A bell is a hollow vessel of cast metal that rings when struck. It was an important tool in ceremonies for ancient civilizations dating back to 600 B.C. but the bell has become unimportant in our daily lives. Often highlighting the overlooked and mundane in his artwork, Michael Swaney saw that bells contain a certain magical hilarity to them. Their simple, elegantly curved shape and unmistakable sound as noise makers appealed to him, and from there began this collection of drawings which are an homage to the ‘ding-a-ling’.

Michael Swaney was born in Kimberley, Canada and has lived in Barcelona for the past six years. There he makes mixed media works, sculptures, drawings, videos, and installations which explore absurdity in everyday situations and challenge the idea of performance as a static object.