Nick Cave’s 2011 Soundsuit in the MFAH’s collection presents an unwieldy, awkward, and confusing sense of proportion. At times, it seems almost familiar, standing on two feet and extending what could be limbs out from its body. But it is amorphous and difficult to discern what might be front or back, up or down. It is tempting to search for patterns or familiar forms, such asa face, in the surface decorations. The softly woven fibers overlap with stitching connecting these disparate cloth pieces. The soft fabric invites touch, but the enigmatic form frustrates understanding.
Nick Cave was born in Fulton, Missouri in 1959, and works primarily in Chicago, Illinois. His primary body of work consists of Soundsuits like the one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s collection.
Since 1992, Nick Cave’s primary body of work has been devoted to Soundsuits like the one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s collection. This work was borne of the confusion and chaos of the Rodney King . In 1991, an African-American construction worker, Rodney King, was violently beaten in Los Angeles by police officers. Footage of the beating was broadcast across the country, and the police officers in question were brought to trial on charges of excessive force—and acquitted. Within hours, Los Angeles erupted in violent riots that lasted six days. Two of the officers were later convicted in a federal civil rights trial, and two were acquitted. Although Cave was born in Fulton, Missouri in 1959, and works primarily in Chicago, Illinois, he was deeply affected by these events as were many African Americans and civil rights activist across the country, and he began a body of work in response. Asking the question, “what does it feel like to be discarded, dismissed, profiled?”, Cave began to collect discarded objects and fashion alternate bodily realities out of them. Cave’s Soundsuits are imaginary suits of armor, concealing signs of race, class, and gender embedded in the body, protecting the wearer from being judged or targeted according to their body or dress. Cave later commented on this experience saying, “When I was inside a suit, you couldn’t tell if I was a woman or man; if I was black, red, green, or orange; from Haiti or South Africa. I was no longer Nick. I was a shaman of sorts.” The suit could transform the wearer, not only protecting them but also infusing them with a sense of whimsy, nostalgia, and otherworldliness.
Cave’s Soundsuits are multilayered artworks. The suits are meant to be viewed as sculptures constructed out of discarded objects that take on new meanings once gathered together.
However, Soundsuits are also meant to be worn, activated by movement. Performers, dancers, students, and even the artist himself have worn the suits, dancing and moving to create alien sounds and stunning visual effects. Inspired by traditional African masks and headdresses, other suits are made of constellations of tin toys, countless feathers that shimmer and wave, sticks that rattle, or buttons that gleam and jangle. The MFAH 2011 Soundsuit, unlike others of its kind, does not make a loud noise when in motion. Its textile body dampens sound, transforming its wearer’s movements into stealthy rustles.
Cave’s Soundsuits are collaborative works; he often works with craftsmen, performers, choreographers, and schools to realize the construction and performance of the Soundsuits. He is aware of art’s transformative power—not only as an object, but also as a shared experience—and uses that power to spark conversation around such heated topics as race, class, gender, and violence. In a 2016 interview, Cave explained: “I want to change our way of engaging with one another. I want to use art as a form of diplomacy.”
Sources Consulted:
https://art21.org/artist/nick-cave/ https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/eecb/2ac8810a4f3f23e5b4e623cc91fec8b01e7e.pdf
