Soundsuit

Copied Nick Cave, Soundsuit, 2009, mixed media, 96 x 26 x 20 in. (243.8 x 66.0 x 50.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.34A-B, © 2009, Nick Cave. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo by James Prinz Photography

Artwork Details

Title
Soundsuit
Artist
Date
2009
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
96 x 26 x 20 in. (243.8 x 66.0 x 50.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2009, Nick Cave. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo by James Prinz Photography
Credit Line
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
mixed media
Classifications
Highlights
Object Number
2012.34A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2012.34A-B

Artwork Description

Trained as a fiber artist and dancer, Nick Cave named his ongoing series of Soundsuits for the rustling he heard as he moved around in them.
He created his first suit in response to the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers in 1991. He imagined his extravagant costume-sculptures to be protective shields that masked a person's identity and scrambled notions of race, class, and gender.

This suit is composed of doilies that he collected from thrift stores, while other suits in the series incorporate discarded toys, hair, and buttons. In giving these objects new life, he asks, "How do we . . . look at things that are devalued, discarded, and bring a different kind of relevancy to them?"

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