Here are 5 things you need to know about HEARD•SYD before you see it in person.
1. Before you ask…
No, this artist is not the former frontman of the Bad Seeds. This Missouri-born, award-winning artist specialises in sculpture and dance. Nick Cave’s work is in the Brooklyn Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts and more. Cave is also a professor of fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
2. Cave’s wondrous sculptures are handmade
Presented by Carriageworks and Art & About Sydney, HEARD•SYD features the artist’s famous handmade soundsuits. Originally conceived in response to racial violence in the early 1990s, the suits also reference ritual dress from around the world.
The soundsuits in HEARD have been meticulously constructed by the artist from found objects like synthetic raffia, embroidered fabrics and pom poms. When worn, these sculptural creations come alive with each movement.
3. Grazing with the locals
HEARD•SYD is Nick Cave’s first-ever major project in Australia. The 30 suits will trot and sway with the help of 60 dancers from the Sydney Dance Company’s pre-professional year and Ev & Bow, as well as independent dancers from around the city, choreographed by Cave’s longtime collaborator William Gill and set to live music from Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts.
4. New kind of suit in a crowd
HEARD•SYD will pleasantly disrupt daily business routines in Pitt Street Mall on 10 November before galloping off to Carriageworks on 12 November. The project is no stranger to suspending busy crowds. In 2013, HEARD•NY erupted in the middle of Grand Central Station in New York. The performance has also shown in Dallas, Detroit and Hong Kong.
5. Find your heard
‘It’s a piece about dreaming, going back to a place of innocence,’ Nick Cave says. ‘[It’s about] building a character out of nothing and making it into something fantastic.’ Nick Cave invites you to step outside of yourself.
Get a glimpse below:
See HEARD•SYD on:
10 November, Pitt Street Mall, 5pm
12 November, Carriageworks, 10am and 12pm. You can also catch Carriageworks’ weekly farmers’ market and Black Arts Market.
