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enabled him to transform emotional trauma Academy of Art, he was criticized for not being more focused on one specific art form. into creative energy, that his sculpture, in part, “was an armor of sorts, protecting my Apparently, such an approach was never spirit.” meant to be as he has remained an artist of Cave backed off from the defensivemultiple disciplines. aggressive dynamic of the soundsuits for Consequently, Cave’s oeuvre is remarkseveral years after the 1990s, but when he ably diverse and prolific. His interplay returned to them, he proved himself a gentle between art and craft makes the boundary between the two indistinguishable. The large soul. Even though at times dark forces peek through in Meet Me at the Center of the hard-bound catalog accompanying the touring exhibit is like a catalogue raisonne of the Earth, the exhibit at BAM is as generous as it is eye opening. range of Cave’s artistic production over the Going into the exhibit is like entering last half-dozen years, going well beyond the some magic kingdom of the imagination scope of the exhibit at BAM. where tall humanoid figures in outrageous But tellingly, and perhaps prophetically, tights sport lush vegetation, floor-length hair, Cave’s youthful proclivities, love of moveand all sorts of paraphernalia, materials and ment and dance and post-graduate adventures in fashion came together in his work as playthings. Meanwhile, larger-than-life bears and smaller creatures lumber about covered an artist in an unexpected way via an act of with crazy quilts of mismatched woolen brutality. sweaters and swaths of fabric. Serpent-like In 1991, the world watched the videotaped, savage beating of Rodney King by of- fabric tubes writhe on the floor or crawl up mannequins obliterating any recognizable ficers of the Los Angeles Police Department. This violent, racial hate crime had an “SERPENT-LIKE FABRIC TUBES WRITHE ON enormous impact on Cave, who had THE FLOOR OR CRAWL UP MANNEQUINS come close to expeOBLITERATING ANY RECOGNIZABLE FEATURES.” riencing the same thing himself, and features. Glimmering, shimmering coats so it induced a mix of outrage and vulnerof sequins, buttons and a variety of faux ability that cried out for a response. ornamentation, the sheer volume of which is The result was Cave’s first soundsuit. enough to produce a rhythmic clatter when Wandering in the woods to contemplate set in motion, makes for a different sort of this act of inhumanity and racism, he reclamor, as demonstrated in several videos. turned to his gatherer ways, collecting twigs As one voice-over repeats again and again: and branches from which he created a wearable sculpture that clattered with movement. “This is a journey into sound.” The exhibit is very much an Alice-inIt was a provocative, uncomfortable vision to confront. Its demeanor said “stand back.” Wonderland experience, with its mix of playfulness and the inexplicable. Cave manCave told an interviewer that the experience
14 | JULY 11–17, 2012 | BOISEweekly
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