Join the College of Fine Arts for the Next Arts Alive Series Event
Arts Alive Series: A Conversation with Nick Cave and Bob Faust
Virtual Screening
Fine Arts Building, Frank C. and Elizabeth B. Ball Recital Hall, AR 217
April 14, 2022 6 PM
Nick Cave (b. 1959, Fulton, MO; lives and works in Chicago, IL) is an artist, educator and foremost a messenger, working between the visual and performing arts through a wide range of mediums including sculpture, installation, video, sound and performance. Cave is well known for his Soundsuits, sculptural forms based on the scale of his body, initially created in direct response to the police beating of Rodney King in 1991. Soundsuits camouflage the body, masking and creating a second skin that conceals race, gender and class, forcing the viewer to look without judgment. They serve as a visual embodiment of social justice that represent both brutality and empowerment.
Throughout his practice, Cave has created spaces of memorial through combining found historical objects with contemporary dialogues on gun violence and death, underscoring the anxiety of severe trauma brought on by catastrophic loss. The figure remains central as Cave casts his own body in bronze, an extension of the performative work so critical to his oeuvre. Cave reminds us, however, that while there may be despair, there remains space for hope and renewal. From dismembered body parts stem delicate metal flowers, affirming the potential of new growth. Cave encourages a profound and compassionate analysis of violence and its effects as the path towards an ultimate metamorphosis. While Cave’s works are rooted in our current societal moment, when progress on issues of global warming, racism and gun violence (both at the hands of citizens and law enforcement) seem maddeningly stalled, he asks how we may reposition ourselves to recognize the issues, come together on a global scale, instigate change, and ultimately, heal.
Described as "part artist, part designer and part mediator” Bob Faust is the principal and creative director for Faust, a Chicago-based design studio with a focus on cultural branding. He is also the professional and personal partner of artist Nick Cave, who together founded the multiuse creative space called Facility. As an entity, it believes that art and design can create peace, build power, and change the world ... that by fostering an environment and community built from your dreams you will wake up daily within your destiny.
To learn more about Nick Cave’s work, please enjoy this Art21 video. In addition, Nick's mid-career retrospective will be opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, May 14- October 2.
No tickets are required for this event. More information is available on Ball State CFA Calendar