A number of months ago we went to the Denver Art Museum and there was an exhibit of some of Nick Cave's art. Part of the exhibit was a display of Soundsuits. Mr. Cave has been making Soundsuits for over 20 years. I had never seen (or heard) them before. As I walked through the exhibit, the mixed-media suits intrigued me...but when I then saw and heard video of the suits in motion, everything changed! The sounds and anonymity the suits provided was incredible. That was a number of months ago. (To see a video of Nick Cave and a few of his Soundsuits in motion, click HERE. I also encourage you to Google Mr. Cave and learn more about his intriguing art!).
Fast forward to Saturday and a last minute decision to come up with an interesting costume for a Halloween party that night. Michael and I did some talking and, since he was already at the flea market, he looked around for a bit of inspiration. A $3 abacus was all we needed! He brought it home and the creativity took flight! We had the Soundsuits in mind (one of the Soundsuits by Nick Cave incorporates a large abacus as the "face"), so we broke out some cardboard boxes, skewers, wooden spools, newsprint and hot glue. Michael took apart the beads from the abacus as I began duct taping and fringing newsprint. It looked like a paper feather bird exploded in the house! The result? Total fun!!!!! We put the Soundsuits on and had a blast moving our heads and bodies to make the abacus rattle back and forth and the paper feathers "swoosh!" The anonymity was also an amazing experience (although the hostess of the party figured us out pretty quickly :) I even carried an article about Nick Cave and his Soundsuits in my pocket so that when people asked what we were we were able to share with them our inspiration.
As an aside, I was also intrigued by how disorienting it was for people to see something they had not seen before. Many people had not been to the exhibit or were unfamiliar with Nick Cave's work and we could overhear them saying things like, "I don't know what that is?! Is it an owl? A weird alien?" They were puzzled. We try so hard to define what we see - to give it a name - and when we can't name it we are a bit uncomfortable. We try to put boundaries on it - a description - rules. I wonder how this need to define what we see impacts our ability to fully experience what we encounter? What if we just lived the experience?
Today I am left with both a lesson and a question: What we encounter, leaves an impression that can lead to inspiration. How can we allow ourselves to experience what we encounter without needing to categorize or define it?
And for those of you waiting to find out the winner of the October subscription to Craft Project Central...The winner is...
1 comment:
Yaaay I won, thanks!
I love your hallowe'en suits.
Fancy dress is such fun - like Mardi Gras/Karnival, an opportunity to re-define yourself and break some rules, looks like you had a great time.
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