"Sound suits": a very strange hobby of Nick Cave, with which he wants to change the world

Rock star Nick Cave is certainly a very gifted person. Musician, poet, writer, author of film music, actor, screenwriter — this is not a complete list of his talents. Who would have thought that this lover of everything black and gloomy could also have such an unusual, bright and colorful hobby…

The fact is that in his spare time Cave creates so—called Soundsuits ("sound suits") - intriguing, exciting, expressive and incredibly detailed wearable sculptures made of fabric and not only. Branches, dyed human hair, sisal, faux fur, wire, dolls, horns, sequins, buttons, feathers and, in general, any garbage are used. They can be considered almost indefinitely. But this is not their only purpose.

Source: Flashback

Nick Cave is an artist who is difficult to attribute to any particular category. He works at the intersection of sculpture, installation, performance, video, design and fashion and strives to use his work as an incentive for global change in society.

According to the artist, his costumes provide escape from reality and safety. Whoever is inside the sound suit is completely hidden and free from discrimination. Sound suits seem to give a second skin, hiding race, gender and social status, forcing viewers to look at the "hero" without prejudice and condemnation.

Nick Cave created his first costume back in 1992, as a reaction to the widely publicized case of beating a black taxi driver Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers during arrest. He collected a lot of branches and organized them into a suit that makes sounds when moving.

"I started thinking about the role of personality, feelings of humiliation and uselessness," Cave recalls. — And then I was in the park, looked down and noticed a branch on the ground. And I thought that here it is, a branch, thrown away and insignificant. Then I started collecting all these branches, and somehow by chance they formed a sculpture. I put it on myself and started jumping around. I was just amazed by the amazing rustling sound."

Many of Cave's creations resemble ritual African costumes and masks.

"Hair creates animal sensitivity," Cave says. — You know it's hair, but you don't know its origin. It's tempting, but at the same time a little scary."

"I spend a lot of time at flea markets," says the artist. — For example, I can fly to Washington State, rent a car and drive back across the country, stopping at flea markets. I usually don't know what I'm looking for."

Nick Cave is a professor at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is called the most influential higher art educational institution in the United States. His sound costumes have repeatedly participated in exhibitions, including personal ones, received prestigious awards and are kept in the collections of American museums of modern art. Since 2006, he has been represented by the Jack Sheinman Gallery in New York.