Polygon curator Justin Ramsey explains that the concept for the exhibition was inspired by two separate events.
In 1992, after the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police, American artist Nick Cave (not to be confused with the Australian musician of the same name) was sitting in a park, thinking about how to react, when he noticed a little twig lying broken and abandoned on the ground. Cave gathered up all the broken bits of wood he could find, took them back to his studio and created his first ever “soundsuit.”
Part armour, part disguise, part musical instrument, the idea has informed the artist’s practice for almost 30 years.