The major work Heard 2012, is the first by Nick Cave to enter an Australian public collection, and acquired to mark the tenth anniversary of the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in 2016. Heard invites us to work together, to hear each other, and to celebrate living in a moment of diversity and transformation.
Watch | Go behind-the-scenes
Born in Missouri in 1959, North American performer and sculptor Nick Cave currently lives and works in Chicago, where he is Professor of Fashion Design (Body and Garment) at the Art Institute of Chicago. Through his art practice, Cave addresses broad issues of ceremony, ritual, myth and self, drawing on his personal experiences. He attracted much attention with HEARD 2012, a large-scale work that involves horse costumes (made to be worn and displayed as sculptural works) and live musicians.
‘Soundsuits’ 1992–ongoing is Cave’s signature series of artworks. He created his first soundsuit in response to the now infamous beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police the year prior, and his awareness of the danger of being a black man in the United States. Describing the creative process, Cave has spoken of picking up a twig from the ground, something of no value, and adding another twig, and then another, to form a protective suit. The suits offer a way to express individuality while shielding identity markers such as skin colour, gender or sexuality.
Working with a team of assistants in his studio on Chicago’s south side, Cave has created around 500 ‘soundsuits’ so far, using found materials such as twigs, buttons, beads, sequins, synthetic hair, doilies and raffia. He is ‘always trying to use materials in a new way . . . to reintroduce them into the world through embellishment . . . to preserve their original reference but to shift their meaning completely’.
In performance mode, each horse in Heard 2012 is brought to life by two dancers who develop its behaviour and character. The work involves a group of individuals working together — first as a pair, and then as the ‘herd’ — to become something larger. It relies on the strengths of both the individual and the group. Similarly, the choreography shifts from free-form improvisation to a trained body of dancers moving in unison; creativity and structure are of equal value, as they are within society as a whole. ‘Hearing’ each other is a hopeful metaphor for an inclusive, energised society sharing a sense of wonder and having the space to realise dreams.
Delve into the rehearsals
Nick Cave undertook formal dance training in the 1960s with Alvin Ailey (1931–89), who was celebrated for his unique choreography incorporating vernacular street dance styles. Cave provides notes for the arc of choreography and music of the performances, in which the music quickens and dancers shift from graceful gliding to energetic thrashing as the head and body of each horse breaks apart to dance separately in an almost ecstatic state. The intensity of moving colour, sound and rhythmic dancing induces the crowd to let go and move with the music. (In the 1980s and 90s, rave culture became a way for young people to enjoy a sense of unity, in reaction to the political conservatism of then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and former US president Ronald Reagan. Cave once described 1980s rave culture as having ‘saved his life’.)
Heard 2012 brings together the artist’s key concerns in a thought-provoking riot of colour, movement and sound. Its soundsuits — made of vibrantly dyed raffia, with each horse’s face decorated with fabric, beads and other embellishments from across the globe — draw on longstanding performative traditions ranging from the abundant ornamentation of Yoruban ceremonial costume to the elaborate garb of the New Orleans ‘Mardi Gras Indians’. By joining everyday materials together with music, dance and community participation, Nick Cave encourages us to smile and to remember that change and transformation is possible.
The conservator’s public image is most likely of someone cleaning an old painting with a cotton wool swab in a studio with classical music playing. However, art conservation — particularly contemporary art conservation — calls for an innovative and creative approach to the unique challenges presented by contemporary art display.
Preparing fragile and complex art works for display such as In Bed 2005 by Australian-born London-based artist Ron Mueck is a monumental undertaking due to the artwork’s size.
Enormous though she is, she withdraws from the audience, maintaining a solitary preoccupation and defining herself through the subtlety of body language. She is aloof, an introspective figure in a contemplative mood. Many have seen her in bed, her sanctuary — a favourite with the visiting public — but few will ever see her at her most vulnerable — uncovered and in hair-rollers.
Here, we take you behind-the-scenes into just one aspect of conservation that many would not realise is necessary when caring for contemporary art such as In Bed.
In bed 2005
In Bed is huge in scale with a footprint of over 6×4 metres and the super-sized doona alone is made by joining together multiple commercially made quilts into a large square with the cover made to suit measurements taken from the constructed doona.
Over time, some of the seams in the quilt cover that envelop her from the shoulders down split because of the pressure the doona exerts on the covering while the work is being installed and on display. Repairs are done both by hand and using a machine, because of the size of the work, assistance is required in operating the foot pedal (illustrated).
Repairing the doona
Likewise, the enormous scale of In Bed posed considerable conservation challenges in undertaking the cleaning treatment of the individual textile pieces.
To wash the oversized 7×6 metre doona and cover, it was necessary to build a huge 8×5 metre custom-designed washtub and drying rack on the floor of the Gallery of Modern Art Conservation Laboratory. A gantry system was also designed to allow the fabric to be lowered and raised on a large stainless-steel rack. The washtub required 4,200 litres of tap water to fill it sufficiently for the textiles to be submerged. They were soaked overnight, rinsed, before again being lowered into a wash solution and agitated with the aid of large sponges and sponge mops (illustrated).
Washing the doona
In Bed comprises several different components that are installed in sequence to achieve the finished artwork — the large, low form, painted plinth purpose built for each installation; two pillows and cases; head and shoulders; body with raised knees; and the doona and cover.
That just leaves the ironing of the pillowcases and doona, a necessary part of the final installation process to remove the smallest creases ready for display.
The final touch: Repositioning the doona
Removing the smallest creases
Ron Mueck’s In bed 2005 installed
