Drew TewksburyNick Cave (not that Nick Cave), the Chicago-based artist, will present 35 of his otherworldly soundsuits at Meet Me at the Center of the Earth at UCLA's Fowler Museum Saturday night. Cave's soundsuits explore and challenge expectations of many different artistic media. They're boldly colored costumes that move and twist like wheat fields on Mars, and generate sounds that both mimic nature and music. The soundsuit is also a political statement:
Cave's first Soundsuit was sparked by the civil unrest in Los Angeles in 1992 following the acquittal of the police officers involved in the Rodney King beating.
The Soundsuits almost always cover the whole body, erasing the identity of the wearer. Thus, the Soundsuits can be understood as coats of armor, shielding Cave from the day-to-day prejudice he encounters as an African American man and facilitating a transformation into an invented realm of vibrant associations and meanings. (from Fowler Museum)
KCRW's Jason Bentley will spin for the exhibition's only stop in Southern California. The event on January 9 from 6 to 10pm is open to the public with a $10 donation.
Video of Soundsuits in action after the jump and beautiful photos from artist/writer Molly Gottschalk from Cave's performance at SCAD
In November, artist/writer Molly Gottschalk was commissioned to document a performance of Nick Cave's soundsuits at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Read about the extraordinary process at her blog, Molly would.
Here's a few samples:
Credit: Molly Gottschalk
Credit: Molly Gottschalk
Credit: Molly Gottschalk
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