more failed paintings
cannot pick up all those shells
more failed paintings
a failed to fly paper airplane and the Nick Cave Rug
CAVE: The first Soundsuit was made in
1992, in response to the Rodney King incident, the L.A. riots. I was following
the story; it made me think about what it feels like to be discarded,
dismissed, and profiled. It affected me psychologically: I thought, the moment
I step outside of the privacy of my home, I could be profiled. I’m an artist
and a professor, yet I could be in a situation in which my career has no effect
on what I look like and how I’m perceived.
I was reflecting on that while sitting in the
park one day, and I looked down and saw a twig on the ground, as something
discarded. Then I proceeded to collect the twigs in the park. That became the
catalyst for the first Soundsuit.
I brought the twigs back to the studio and
started to build a sculpture. I wasn’t even thinking about the fact that this
could physically be worn. When it was done, I realized that I could put it on,
which put everything in perspective. Number one: I was building a sort of
second skin, which operated as a suit of armor, something that could shield me
from society and the world. Number two: it was scary and familiar. It made me think
about when I cross the street and hear car doors locking.
Then I realized that when I moved, it made
sounds. I thought about the role of protest: in order to be heard, you have to
speak louder. And I thought of the outrage of the community that came together,
of people who were emotionally charged and disturbed by that incident. Out of
all that came a performance-sculpture that changed the direction of my art
process. I’m lucky that I had art as a vehicle to express my emotions because I
don’t know what I would have done without it, how I would have handled what I
was feeling about that incident.
Nick Cave
a failed to fly paper airplane
so many failed paintings
