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Nick Cave
Soundsuit, 2009

Artwork Info

Artwork title
Soundsuit
Artist name
Nick Cave
Date created
2009
Classification
sculpture
Medium
synthetic textile, metal, and paint
Dimensions
97 in. × 26 in. × 20 in. (246.38 cm × 66.04 cm × 50.8 cm)
Date acquired
2010
Credit
Collection SFMOMA
Accessions Committee Fund purchase
Photo credit
James Prinz Photography, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Copyright
© Nick Cave
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/2010.188.A-B
Artwork status
Not on view at this time.

Audio Stories

Empowerment through art making

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transcripts

NICK CAVE:

My mother told me when I was like eight years old, the complexity of what I would have to deal with. So, knowing made me think I’ve got to build a thick skin. I’ve got to be able to operate in a world that could work against me as opposed to for me. What do I do with that?

I have been racially profiled. That has been my reality. And I just have to get quiet to put it in perspective and to, sort of, not lash out into rage. And if I do, lashing out, for me, is creating this. All of that becomes the impulse to create. I don’t ever see the “Soundsuits” as fun. They really are coming from a very dark place.

The “Soundsuits” hide gender, race, class, and they force you to look at the work without judgment. You know, we tend to want to categorize everything. We tend to want to find its place. How do we, sort of, be one-on-one with something that is unfamiliar?

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