Nick Cave
Also see Nick Cave, 28.6.20
Interview in Metro Times:
Cave: ‘I started thinking about myself as an individual, as a black male.
I happened to be in the park — I was just sitting there and I looked down on the ground and there was this twig, and that twig metaphorically spoke to me about being discarded, being dismissed, walked on, stepped on, abused. And I proceeded to gather all of these twigs in the park, brought them home, started building this sculpture, and all of a sudden once I was done I realized I could wear it, and once I put it on and started to move it made sounds. That led me to think about the role of protest, that in order to be heard you got to speak loud. At the same time, was I building a protective suit of armor? This thing looked scary, it was sort of something that was unfamiliar, which looked threatening.
MT: In one way your work seems to address these issues in a playful way.
Cave: Yeah, but that's just the disguise. That's my way of seducing you and pulling you into the work. The moment you're inside it starts to break down. It's dark. That's when you have to decide whether you're willing to go there, or do you, like many, turn their backs to it?
MT: What's it like to wear one of those suits?
Cave: There is a liberating sort of experience — you're able to sort of move freely, openly. But I think when you wear it with a group of people, I think the camaraderie is amazing. It's very shaman-like. You become this sort of shaman of sorts, and enjoy this liberty to move. And you gotta come to it with conviction. You can't allow the suit to wear you.
MT: The suits are very sculptural, yet in distinguishing you from the musician, Nick Cave, your Wikipedia page says "performance artist." Where do you feel your work falls?
Cave: I think I see myself as an artist. Just an artist. I really work between sculpture, performance installation, video, and dance. I feel like I'm just an artist that really finds the means necessary to support the idea.
MT: Do you have a team of people who help you fabricate these suits? How many on your team?
Cave: I work with about three different fabricators here in the city, and in my studio I have anywhere from 10 to 30 assistants, depending on the project, which is hard, 20 new assistants for an up-and-coming project, as much as a year to produce this one piece. It really sort of varies. I am right in there completely, 110 percent. Pretty much anything that looks really complicated, I probably made it. I'm a maker and I'm in the studio probably around the clock. When they go home at 5, I'm working until midnight, pretty much all the time. So I'm completely hands-on, and very involved.
MT: By your estimates, how many of these suits have you made in these past 20 years?
Cave: Oh God I don't even know. Probably 600. I've documented them all.
’
DeVito, L. (2017) Nick Cave returns to Cranbrook Available at: https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/nick-cave-returns-to-cranbrook/Content?oid=2351008 (Accessed: 3 December 2020)
Cave: ‘I started thinking about myself as an individual, as a black male.
I happened to be in the park — I was just sitting there and I looked down on the ground and there was this twig, and that twig metaphorically spoke to me about being discarded, being dismissed, walked on, stepped on, abused. And I proceeded to gather all of these twigs in the park, brought them home, started building this sculpture, and all of a sudden once I was done I realized I could wear it, and once I put it on and started to move it made sounds. That led me to think about the role of protest, that in order to be heard you got to speak loud. At the same time, was I building a protective suit of armor? This thing looked scary, it was sort of something that was unfamiliar, which looked threatening.
MT: In one way your work seems to address these issues in a playful way.
Cave: Yeah, but that's just the disguise. That's my way of seducing you and pulling you into the work. The moment you're inside it starts to break down. It's dark. That's when you have to decide whether you're willing to go there, or do you, like many, turn their backs to it?
MT: What's it like to wear one of those suits?
Cave: There is a liberating sort of experience — you're able to sort of move freely, openly. But I think when you wear it with a group of people, I think the camaraderie is amazing. It's very shaman-like. You become this sort of shaman of sorts, and enjoy this liberty to move. And you gotta come to it with conviction. You can't allow the suit to wear you.
MT: The suits are very sculptural, yet in distinguishing you from the musician, Nick Cave, your Wikipedia page says "performance artist." Where do you feel your work falls?
Cave: I think I see myself as an artist. Just an artist. I really work between sculpture, performance installation, video, and dance. I feel like I'm just an artist that really finds the means necessary to support the idea.
MT: Do you have a team of people who help you fabricate these suits? How many on your team?
Cave: I work with about three different fabricators here in the city, and in my studio I have anywhere from 10 to 30 assistants, depending on the project, which is hard, 20 new assistants for an up-and-coming project, as much as a year to produce this one piece. It really sort of varies. I am right in there completely, 110 percent. Pretty much anything that looks really complicated, I probably made it. I'm a maker and I'm in the studio probably around the clock. When they go home at 5, I'm working until midnight, pretty much all the time. So I'm completely hands-on, and very involved.
MT: By your estimates, how many of these suits have you made in these past 20 years?
Cave: Oh God I don't even know. Probably 600. I've documented them all.
’
DeVito, L. (2017) Nick Cave returns to Cranbrook Available at: https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/nick-cave-returns-to-cranbrook/Content?oid=2351008 (Accessed: 3 December 2020)
My reflections on Cave's interview with Metro Times:
It interests me that Cave's work is also about identity and that he too was drawn to wear his twig sculpture. This ambivalence between protection and threat is strong in my practice too, also the idea of something very familiar (twigs) being transformed into something unfamiliar, or uncanny. His work is superficially attractive, playful, it's colourful....but he says its a way to 'seduce' the viewer into considering the dark side of his work. again, clear resonances with my work...It provokes a range of conflicting responses.
Freedom of expression: I have observed over the years that when I invite people to wear my sculptures they often begin to move differently. It gives them the chance to take on a selection of temporary identities, which gives a certain freedom.
Shaman-like: Many people have said that my recent performances with my Body cocoons in unexpected settings are also shaman -like. How much is it that I'm wearing unusual things and how much is it the setting? The setting certainly adds a context, a frame and plenty of meaning. This is definitely something I'd like to explore further. In what way is my work shamanistic? I like to think it can be transformative and provocative but what does the shaman-like aspect add? It interests me that it's only really since the first Coronavirus lockdown in England (March 2020) that I have been videoing myself wearing my sculptures. Before that I made them mostly to be worn by my participants, but obviously because of the very real fear of contamination at the moment, that hasn't been possible. I am a reluctant performer, but my Body cocoons are perfect, as I'm partially hidden at least.
Multidisciplinary artist: When Cave is asked whether he's a sculptor or a performance artist he says he's 'just an artist...that really finds the means necessary to support the idea.'
I have naturally been analysing my practice recently as I prepare my Practitioner Position Presentation for this module, MF7004. I consider myself to be a maker and facilitator but also recently am conscious that performance is becoming more significant in my practice. Being able to select any one of these 3 strands to embody an idea is fabulously thrilling...but juggling them can also be difficult. For my last module I began to see that it might be possible to synthesise them as well in Parts of me for MF7003) These assemblages incorporate sculpture and performance. The steel bodies are informed by stills from my performances with my Body cocoons. Might it be possible to also add participatory or socially engaged elements? Is that necessary? Or like Cave, should I be content to choose a discipline appropriate for the concept I'm working on?
Being a maker: I'm very envious of Cave's assistants and fabricators, but am also pleased that he is still involved in making. It feels much more authentic to me. I am a maker and the mark of my hand and/or body in my work is important to me. However, making is slow labour and I only have limited skills in a select range of fabrication areas. My expertise is in knitting and stitch; my metal and mould making skills are nascent, but I'm most grateful to the technicians Si and Gareth for so generously sharing their knowledge and skills with me! If I wanted to make more ambitious work in terms of materials/process/scale I would need fabricators/photographers/videographers....but I would also need to pay them. Where can I find some funding? I must look at the University funding streams that Aly told me about.
Multiples: I am delighted that Cave has made so many Soundsuits in the past 20 years. 600! That puts my limited output into perspective. I'm especially pleased that he has made so many sculptural pieces based on the same concept. That heartens me as I'm about to start Body cocoon 6! Christian Boltanski says that most artists have just one idea.... I recognise obsession in my practice and also in Cave's. I also recognise the need to carefully document everything. But where is this documentation? I can' ftind it. I need to research this further.
Sound: Cave describes the sounds that his Soundsuits make as the sound of protest. He says 'in order to be heard you got to speak loud.' Marcus Coates also uses sound in his work- drumming, birdsong etc. I know that I'm attracted to work that is multi sensory. How can I develop the use of other senses in my practice?
It interests me that Cave's work is also about identity and that he too was drawn to wear his twig sculpture. This ambivalence between protection and threat is strong in my practice too, also the idea of something very familiar (twigs) being transformed into something unfamiliar, or uncanny. His work is superficially attractive, playful, it's colourful....but he says its a way to 'seduce' the viewer into considering the dark side of his work. again, clear resonances with my work...It provokes a range of conflicting responses.
Freedom of expression: I have observed over the years that when I invite people to wear my sculptures they often begin to move differently. It gives them the chance to take on a selection of temporary identities, which gives a certain freedom.
Shaman-like: Many people have said that my recent performances with my Body cocoons in unexpected settings are also shaman -like. How much is it that I'm wearing unusual things and how much is it the setting? The setting certainly adds a context, a frame and plenty of meaning. This is definitely something I'd like to explore further. In what way is my work shamanistic? I like to think it can be transformative and provocative but what does the shaman-like aspect add? It interests me that it's only really since the first Coronavirus lockdown in England (March 2020) that I have been videoing myself wearing my sculptures. Before that I made them mostly to be worn by my participants, but obviously because of the very real fear of contamination at the moment, that hasn't been possible. I am a reluctant performer, but my Body cocoons are perfect, as I'm partially hidden at least.
Multidisciplinary artist: When Cave is asked whether he's a sculptor or a performance artist he says he's 'just an artist...that really finds the means necessary to support the idea.'
I have naturally been analysing my practice recently as I prepare my Practitioner Position Presentation for this module, MF7004. I consider myself to be a maker and facilitator but also recently am conscious that performance is becoming more significant in my practice. Being able to select any one of these 3 strands to embody an idea is fabulously thrilling...but juggling them can also be difficult. For my last module I began to see that it might be possible to synthesise them as well in Parts of me for MF7003) These assemblages incorporate sculpture and performance. The steel bodies are informed by stills from my performances with my Body cocoons. Might it be possible to also add participatory or socially engaged elements? Is that necessary? Or like Cave, should I be content to choose a discipline appropriate for the concept I'm working on?
Being a maker: I'm very envious of Cave's assistants and fabricators, but am also pleased that he is still involved in making. It feels much more authentic to me. I am a maker and the mark of my hand and/or body in my work is important to me. However, making is slow labour and I only have limited skills in a select range of fabrication areas. My expertise is in knitting and stitch; my metal and mould making skills are nascent, but I'm most grateful to the technicians Si and Gareth for so generously sharing their knowledge and skills with me! If I wanted to make more ambitious work in terms of materials/process/scale I would need fabricators/photographers/videographers....but I would also need to pay them. Where can I find some funding? I must look at the University funding streams that Aly told me about.
Multiples: I am delighted that Cave has made so many Soundsuits in the past 20 years. 600! That puts my limited output into perspective. I'm especially pleased that he has made so many sculptural pieces based on the same concept. That heartens me as I'm about to start Body cocoon 6! Christian Boltanski says that most artists have just one idea.... I recognise obsession in my practice and also in Cave's. I also recognise the need to carefully document everything. But where is this documentation? I can' ftind it. I need to research this further.
Sound: Cave describes the sounds that his Soundsuits make as the sound of protest. He says 'in order to be heard you got to speak loud.' Marcus Coates also uses sound in his work- drumming, birdsong etc. I know that I'm attracted to work that is multi sensory. How can I develop the use of other senses in my practice?
'Drawing on his training as both a visual artist and dancer, Nick Cave works in a wide range of mediums, including sculpture, installation, performance, and video. Cave’s Soundsuits—highlights of the artist’s oeuvre—are meticulously handcrafted from found objects, recycled remnants, and discarded materials. Existing as both sculptures in themselves and, when occupied by the body, activated forms, they reference dress and ritual attire from around the world, responding to the globalization of cultural identity. “My ability to make objects sing lies within the multiple readings of each work,” says the artist.
Creative Time (2017) HEARD NY: About the artist Available at: https://creativetime.org/projects/heard-ny/about-the-artist/ (Accessed: 3 December 2020)
Public Delivery (2019) Nick Cave’s Soundsuit sculptures – Everything you need to know Available at: https://publicdelivery.org/nick-cave-soundsuits/ (Accessed: 4 December 2020)
My reflections on the article in Creative Time:
Synthesis: Cave synthesises sculpture with performance, as I do.
References: His works 'reference dress and ritual attire from around the world, responding to the globalization of cultural identity' . What do mine reference? I think they have multiple readings as Cave says of his own work. They reference identity, and the boundaries between binaries Self/Other, seen/unseen, form/formlessness, absence/presence. My most recent wearable sculptures, my metal ones, are technically wearable, yet also utterly unwearable and question protection/restraint. I hope to develop these further as they are curiously awkward.
Creative Time (2017) HEARD NY: About the artist Available at: https://creativetime.org/projects/heard-ny/about-the-artist/ (Accessed: 3 December 2020)
Public Delivery (2019) Nick Cave’s Soundsuit sculptures – Everything you need to know Available at: https://publicdelivery.org/nick-cave-soundsuits/ (Accessed: 4 December 2020)
My reflections on the article in Creative Time:
Synthesis: Cave synthesises sculpture with performance, as I do.
References: His works 'reference dress and ritual attire from around the world, responding to the globalization of cultural identity' . What do mine reference? I think they have multiple readings as Cave says of his own work. They reference identity, and the boundaries between binaries Self/Other, seen/unseen, form/formlessness, absence/presence. My most recent wearable sculptures, my metal ones, are technically wearable, yet also utterly unwearable and question protection/restraint. I hope to develop these further as they are curiously awkward.
A - mal - gams, 2019
A·mal·gam, 2019 (in progress) bronze120 inches tall
In a new series entitled, A·mal·gams, Cave is creating super-sized bronze Soundsuit sculptures. The largescale works act as community beacons to celebrate race and form community, signifying the power of each of us as unique individuals defined by our differences. Incorporating vintage floral toile and ceramic bird figurines that envelope the body in a protective aura of history, memory, honesty, and rebirth, the monumental human-based forms are firmly rooted in the earth, growing from the soil.
Across the United States, public statues have been built to reinforce and perpetuate white supremacy as symbols of the Confederacy, slavery, and racism. In recent months, as monuments have been toppled by Black Lives Matter protestors, empty plinths are left as hopeful spaces, creating room to reckon with history and revise narratives. A·mal·gams offer a new monument: one that envisions true liberation and celebration. Cave sees the sculptures as a manifestation of the divine spirit, steeped in the past, yet exiting the present moment in service of our collective futures.
Across the United States, public statues have been built to reinforce and perpetuate white supremacy as symbols of the Confederacy, slavery, and racism. In recent months, as monuments have been toppled by Black Lives Matter protestors, empty plinths are left as hopeful spaces, creating room to reckon with history and revise narratives. A·mal·gams offer a new monument: one that envisions true liberation and celebration. Cave sees the sculptures as a manifestation of the divine spirit, steeped in the past, yet exiting the present moment in service of our collective futures.
Jack Shainman Gallery (2019) Nick Cave : A-mal-gam Available at: https://jackshainman.com/states_of_being/interventions/bronze_soundsuit (Accessed: 7 January 2021)