By Kim Voynar Voynar@moviecitynews.com
Nick Cave, Crazy Genius
UPDATE: A reader very kindly pointed out that the soundsuits are created by Nick Cave, an artist and educator based in Chicago, NOT by Nick Cave, the awesome singer/songwriter/musician whose music with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is part of the regular soundtrack of my life. Which is kind of a bummer … the docent I spoke with about the upcoming exhibit when we were at the museum had assured me that this was indeed THAT Nick Cave and he was also very excited about that, but apparently he was misinformed, as was I. Not that it’s his fault, I should have researched further than the SAM website and not just assumed. So, mea culpa.
BUT! The soundsuits are still amazingly cool, and from what I’ve seen they look even cooler in motion when they’re being worn for parades or dancing or what have you than how they look just standing there in stasis in the museum. So hopefully there will be some of that tied in with the Seattle exhibit as well. Post updated to reflect which Nick Cave is which.
The Seattle Art Museum is slated to have an exhibit in March called Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth, which will feature Cave’s “Soundsuits.” What’s a soundsuit? Don’t feel bad, I didn’t know either. We saw a few samples in the African Gallery when we were at SAM to check out the Picasso exhibit this weekend and they are craaaaazy, but in a good way. Here’s a description from the SAM website:
Nick Cave tailors suits that are sculpture, clothing characters that spring out of his imagination. Stately guardians preside in shaggy, day-glow pink hair; polar bears wear sweaters that stick out in humorous places; and dancers are adorned with white beaded filigree crowns. Suits like this have never been seen before. Partly this is due to his choice of improbable materials—buttons, plastic tabs, hot pads, metal flowers, sandwich bags, spinning tops and crocheted doilies—which are used to make visually fierce and impeccably detailed suits.
For more info on Nick Cave’s Soundsuits, including other Soundsuit exhibits and sightings, you can check out this website.
The exhibit runs March 10–June 5, 2011 — which, lucky for you, happily coincides with the Seattle International Film Festival, which runs May 19-June 12. And if you don’t come up to Seattle for our film festival, well, you are seriously missing out, because SIFF would be one of my favorite fests even if I didn’t live here and get to take advantage of all six glorious weeks of it (25 days of fest proper, plus three weeks of press screenings leading up to it). It’s a great time of year to be in Seattle, and now on top of the film fest you get to see some crazy, wonderful, imaginative soundsuits. Awesome.
Nic Cave,
Show me how to continue … I will follow you to the center of the earth!
I was a young teacher in a K.C. public school when I first saw you dance. I was moved to tears then and I’m moved now.
Think Spring … dream PEACE
Annie