Suiting Up at SAM
The fashion industry thrives on the flux of women’s style. In contrast you can see the predictable consistency of men’s suits over time. In fact over the past 400 years men’s fashion hasn’t really changed. Once the English toned down the hues and removed the frill of the French dandy we were stuck with the same basic concept. But do the clothes really make the man? Nick Cave is offering suits of a sort, but is he really providing an alternative.
Nick Cave began making his soundsuits because of the police beating of Rodney King in the early nineties. The basis of his first explorations came from the descriptions of King by the officers that beat him so brutally. In this first suit Cave used sticks as the primary material resulting in a bristling fur wrapping an ogre type form, but it could also resemble something a shaman might wear. As he continued to create each suit Cave’s vocabulary of materials grew; incorporating found objects as varied as rugs, pot holders and tin toys. The intense color that is frequently used from these appropriations connotes pleasure and joy.
Each soundsuit was made to fit Nick Cave. Through these suits he explores identity, beauty, ethnicity, self and social interaction. By removing the symbols people take for granted as identifiers the viewer is left with no preconceptions, very little prejudices. – I say little because those are frightened by clowns or people in costume might still harbor those experiences. – Otherwise viewing someone in these soundsuits immediately brings questions to mind. Is this friend or foe? How should I react? Nightmare or Dream?
But it isn’t only the viewers reaction that is significant. While wearing these works the individual realizes the constraints upon themselves by society are removed. Individual identity is completely removed and you can find yourself free from your social burdens. This psychological effect is seen throughout the world. In Africa a creature like these might be taken as a spirit with which you can share your most secret thoughts, or troubles. Sometimes within these costumes you might still find yourself in a cage, even literally caged. In one suit with a tigers head you find yourself prohibited from reaching your desires. Your body is not able to touch the plaster bird figurines that surround you. Or if these birds are decoys you are prohibited of reaching your prey.
At the exhibit entrance stands a bear soundsuit made of thrift store sweaters. – One of two I’ve seen Nick Cave explore. Is this bear a greeter or a guardian? With his high key brand-named striped sweaters and the slightly grinning expression on his face I believe him to be a cordial greeter. He strikes me as almost poised ready for a hug. Like all of these suits in the show he sits on a 8 to 12 inch platform giving them the feel of a runway at a fashion show.
The sweaters applied to the bear are whole and retain their original human silhouette. Many of the other outfits have handmade doilies and potholders applied to their surface. Each of those found objects carry the love and care that were embodied within by their maker. When he uses discarded sequined evening or formal wear it is very easy to see allusions or even critique of beauty, and fashion.
Once you pass through the initial room with the bear you enter a large open room with four large runways. This room contains the tiger piece mentioned earlier. As you pass the tiger, and a work adorned with tin toys you find a runway with eight foot tall penis shaped creatures. Or if they are a bishop’s mitre it can stir up religious reflection. Because they are covered with electrically-hued fur, it doesn’t strike me as a pensive/ austere religion. In the next room is video projections of these creatures in feverish movement. Take a while and really enjoy the dance club atmosphere.
A couple of rooms away is inhabited by either undersea or space creatures. Where we would expect faces to be we are given only a screen of wicker from a basket or base of a chair. Their fabric is coated with buttons giving them a scaly or technical appearance. The one that I am most fond of appears to have it’s head tilted back in awe of the sky. If it is actually facing forward then the mind is simply open to receive all celestial input.
All this being said these soundsuits are static; decorating mannequins on runway platform. And much of what I said is a result of that presentation. I hope to catch them around Seattle as spontaneous happenings. That would allow a better understanding of their effects. Ultimately, I sense that the inhabiter of the suit will find the feelings it provides physically and psychologically indulgent; in a word fun. Allowing a deep release and unburdening of spirit and expressive freedom in many of the suits and the confines the suit may give only a temporary stop on the transition to ecstasy.
Seattle Art Museum: Event Detail
http://bit.ly/fpLL9r
Family Festival presented by Target Earth Day for Kids April 16, 2011 10 am3 pm PACCAR Pavilion
