Picture this: you’re changing trains at Grand Central Station in New York, when suddenly you hear the swishing noise of rustling leaves, and notice a crowd is gathered around a group of performers. You approach the commotion and see a herd of horses dancing in a circle. These aren’t normal horses, but people in costumes made from straw-like material and colorful fabrics. You stand there struck by the beauty that these performers display through dancing and movement of the materials that make up the costumes. The sounds in the room are electric among the commotion of the metro station.
This week, I had the opportunity to listen to Sara Idacavage, a doctoral student at UGA in the Polymer, Fiber, and Textile Sciences program, discuss the Chicago-based artist, Nick Cave. We gathered at the Georgia Museum of Art observing the soundsuit on display in the permanent collection. The work of Nick Cave’s soundsuits are multi-media, performance style art which conceal the identity of the person wearing the suit, and create a multitude of sounds. Inspiration for the soundsuits stems from Mardi Gras, West African masks, and ball culture in the LGBTQ+ community
(commonly known from the 1990 film, Paris is Burning). The first soundsuit Cave produced was in 1992 after the brutal police beating of Rodney King and the LA riots. This first suit was made of discarded twigs, resulting in a brown exaggerated soundsuit. The nature of the sticks that Cave used both reflected the identity of being lost or forgotten, and the identity of being Black in America, represented by the color brown. Thus the concept of soundsuits was born, which Cave has now created over 500 soundsuits, contributing and challenging the textile, fashion and dance communities.
Sound suit from twigs (1992)
Idacavage introduced three themes to the work of Nick Cave: identity, mobility and materiality. As we observed the sound suit at the museum, I began to see a new perspective of the beauty in the discarded identity that Cave resonates with through the repurposing of everyday objects. Not only is the process sustainable and resourceful, but the craftsmanship which Cave employs is of couture level. He defies the rules of fashion and Western art with the soundsuits, bringing new life to performance art and textile design.
Further, Idacavage cites a framework, developed by Zora Neale Hurston, called “the will to adorn,” which encompasses the, “skills, values, and knowledge ideas, values, skills, and knowledge rooted in the African continent and in the American experience” (N'Diaye, 2013). The style with which Cave creates his works embodies this “will to adorn” by commenting on the prejudice and exploitation that Black people experience in American society. Once Cave’s identity of being a Black queer man is concealed with the soundsuit, he is able to reclaim his identity and express himself freely without judgement or bias from the outside world.
Beyond the surface of the intriguing works of art is a powerful message about race, class and gender. Cave uses his artistic ability to unite people of all backgrounds and produce shocking and interactive works from discarded goods. Not only is he connecting humans using the power of art, but doing so using upcycled and sustainable materials such as antique figurines, collectable items, beads, buttons, pipe cleaners, pompoms, quilts, and brightly-coloured hair or faux fur. To see a soundsuit in-person, visit the Georgia Museum of Art on campus for free.
Citations:
N'Diaye, D. B. (2013). The will TO ADORN: African American Diversity, style and identity. Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Retrieved from https://festival.si.edu/articles/2013/the-will-to-adorn-african-american-diversity-style-and-identity.
To read more about Nick Cave and topics from this article, follow these links:
Rodney King: https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots
Nick Cave biography: https://publicdelivery.org/nick-cave-soundsuits/ & https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/artists/voice-and-resistance-in-nick-caves-soundsuits#:~:text=Cave%20has%20continued%20to%20produce,and%20extravagantly%20condensed%20into%20single
Zora Neale Hurston, “the will to adorn”: https://festival.si.edu/articles/2013/the-will-to-adorn-african-american-diversity-style-and-identity
Grand Central Soundsuit Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBALj_Um1fc
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