Wearable Sculpture

 ‘I want a viewer to reflect on how they respond to someone or something unlike themselves.
[The experience is] about difference and the power of uniqueness’

(Nick Cave, American multidisciplinary artist).

There is still a constant stream of student requests to view more of Gerwyn Davies ‘selfies.’ As we delve deeper into wearable sculpture and the power of dressing up we are contemplating issues of identity, place, materiality and social justice.

Enter American sculptor, dancer and performance artist Nick Cave and his Soundsuit series. Caves’ suits like Davies’ costumes are full-body sculptures made of found objects and reused materials, they abstract and disguise the figure, obscuring identity, yet they are hiding in plain sight.

The suits sometimes 3 metres tall act as symbol of empowerment and a form of protection by obscuring the wearers, race, gender, age, sexual identification and class. They draw on African ceremonial costumes, are joyous, spectacular and resonate when worn. Performances often include drumming and percussive music evocative of a marching band (NGV 2023).

‘When I was inside a suit, you couldn’t tell if I was a woman or man; if I was black, red, green or orange; from Haiti or South Africa. I was no longer Nick. I was a shaman of sorts’

(Nick Cave).

Each week students have been viewing various Soundsuits that invite the viewer to wonder ‘What is it? What am I encountering? Who are these creatures? How should I relate to them?’ (Cave)

We marvel at the colour, boldness, and skilful construction of Davies and Cave’s work. Their art makes us laugh, think more deeply and question the status quo. Their work challenges the way we look at each other and the world. Alongside how do we think with materials? What can this material do? What can it become, where does it belong?  

Students’ own creations of wearable art is materialising through experimenting with paper on life size mannequins and now moving to projects (& the drama!) of the ‘Mystery Box Challenge’ (3-6) and ‘Magical Masks’ (1-2s) . The art room is busy, in fact pumping, with students collaborating and working voluntarily through recess breaks on their mystery box projects. Students are harnessing the force, fun and serious business of dressing up!

Photography below taken by students.