Impulse Archaeology documents the seminal Toronto-based, internationally oriented art and culture magazine Impulse, which existed from 1971 through 1990.

Eldon Garnet, executive editor of Impulse, curates the exhibition that features hundreds of original artworks, texts, videos, ephemera and other published and non-published submissions to the magazine. The selection of artworks and objects also reflects the various areas that the magazine devoted its pages to, including visual art, music, film, architecture, theory, literature, and gender discourse. Examples include work by: by Boyd Webb, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Barbara Ess and Komar and Melamid, Dennis Oppenheim, Christian Boltanski, as well as portraits of music legends Jonathan Richman, Kraftwerk, Nina Hagen, theorist Northrope Frye, and writer William S. Burroughs.

In conjunction with the exhibition the book Impulse Archaeology has been published by the University of Toronto Press. This large format coffee table volume is an eclectic collection of groundbreaking interviews, articles and artworks, from pieces on punk rock to early discussions on postmodernism. Important features include Aphorisms by Jenny Holzer; drawings by Patti Smith; Tom Dean’s Ramps; Chris Burden’s The Curse of Big Job; photographs by Joel Peter Witkin; Hans Haacke’s Voice Alcan; SITE by James Wines; and William Burroughs’ short story Blade Runner.

Impulse Archaeology is presented and circulated by the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and Impulse, and is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, BMO Financial Group and International Trade Canada, and Canadian Foreign Affairs. The exhibition at White Box has been coordinated by Janet Bellotto and designed by Carolyn White.