Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - Nick Cave's Soundsuits

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

At the intersection of Black Lives Matter, the legacy of Jim Crow laws from the South, the resurgence of the KKK, and the horrors of the unequal impact of the COVID 19 pandemic in the USA, Nick Cave's Soundsuits, evoke yet another dimension of personal protection. 

In the artist and dancer's own words, regarding the transformation and empowerment felt wearing a Soundsuit, Nick Cave states:

"a suit of armor where I hid my identity. I was inside a suit, you couldn't tell if I was a woman, or a man; if I was black, red, green or orange; from Haiti or South Africa. I was no longer Nick. I was a shaman of sorts." (Quoted in Fine Arts, Fall 2020.)

 

Sequin Reuse Soundsuit 2008 (1)

Birds Reuse Soundsuit

Stuffed Animals & Bean Bags Reuse  Soundsuit, 2010. 

Bird and Cat Soundsuit 

Toy Top Reuse Soundsuit

Sequins Soundsuit

Crocheted Doily Reuse. (1)  Soundsuit

Crocheted Doily Reuse (2)   Soundsuit

(1) Recently acquired by the De Young Museum in San Francisco, CA, the Nick Cave Soundsuit (2008)  is currently on show in the Museum's Saxe Gallery. 

References

Burgard, T. A . (Fall 2020) Nick Cave's Sounsuits: Moving Sculpture. Fine Arts. p. 22.  Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco - de Young - Legion of Honor.

Keiren (May 8, 2916) ) Nick Cave Soundsuits. Insteading https://insteading.com/blog/nick-cave-sound-suits/ 

Santora, O. Nick Cave Monograph. https://www.oliviasantora.com/nick-cave-monograph

SoundsuitShop http://soundsuitshop.com/SSS%20Sales%20Kit_2020.pdf