Nick Cave / United States b.1959 / HEARD 2012 / Part 15 of 15 mixed-media wearable sculptures (six parts each) / Purchased 2016 to mark the tenth anniversary of the Gallery of Modern Art with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Ι Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

Nick Cave
HEARD 2012

Not Currently on Display

HEARD in its entirety consists of 30 ‘soundsuits’, costumes made to be worn or displayed as sculptures. Nick Cave created his first soundsuit in 1992 in response to the infamous beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police, and his awareness of the danger of being a black man in the United States.

Describing the creative process, Cave speaks of picking up a twig from the ground, something of no value, and adding another twig, and then another, to form a protective suit. His soundsuits offer a way to express individuality while shielding identity markers such as skin colour, gender and sexuality.

The work comes alive both as a large-scale community performance, and when walking around the soundsuits, hearing the rustle of the raffia and imagining the sculptures fully in motion. In performance, each horse is brought to life by two dancers, who develop its behaviour and character.

HEARD involves a group of individuals working together to become something larger — first as a pair, and then as the ‘herd’ — and relies on the strengths of both the individual and the massed group. Similarly, the choreography shifts from free-form improvisation to a trained body of dancers moving in unison; open-ended creativity and co-ordinated structure are of equal value, as they are within our society as a whole.

There is also a sense of ceremony — it is full of pageantry, colour and sound. ‘Hearing’ each other is a hopeful metaphor for an inclusive, energised society sharing a sense of wonder and having the space to realise dreams.

Chicago-based artist Nick Cave was recently the subject of a major survey exhibition Here Hear at the Cranbrook Art Museum, Missouri, and has presented solo exhibitions with the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, San Francisco.

Cave is director of the graduate fashion program at School of Art Institute of Chicago, his teaching practice spans sculpture, fashion and performance. He learnt to sew in the fibre department of the Kansas City Art Institute, and soon after, began studying dance in Kansas City and in New York.  

Discussion Questions

1. Look closely at the design of the horses and the materials used. What similarities and differences can you identify?

2. How does Cave’s choice of materials add to the intense energy of the performance?

3. Consider the ways everyday materials have transitioned to exotic costuming elements in HEARD.

Classroom Activities

1. Sketch a design for a mask that is inspired by your favourite animal. List the materials you would use to decorate the mask.

2. Invent your own performance and adorn your costume with everyday objects.