Photos by Shade Narramore / Contributing Photographer
Story by Gerardo Palacios / Contributing Writer
The Frist Center for Visual Arts hosted a free Family Festival Day Sunday, which featured Chicago artist Nick Cave’s installation, “Nick Cave: Feat.” It also featured family activities that revolved around Cave’s famous Soundsuits, which are intended to hide a person’s race, gender and class to allow for a judgment-free zone.
The first floor held a silent disco. Each guest was provided a colorful headphone set while they danced to hypnotic, upbeat music and enjoyed visuals provided by Cave himself.
Internationally acclaimed, multi-award winning balloon artist Nathan Lena, more famously known as Anthony the Balloon Kid began covering a giant, life-sized wooden person with balloons around 1 p.m.
“I did not really prepare for this. I mostly did some sketching to see kind of what I would do, but everything else is thought up on the spot,” said Anthony the Balloon Kid as he began his own interpretation of Cave’s Soundsuits. He finished at approximately 4:30 p.m.
The second floor hosted most of the family activities — dancing, face painting and sound bangles, which were made to mimic the sounds, color and movement of Cave’s Soundsuits — and was where “Nick Cave: Feat” was displayed.
“I came because I wanted my son to experience something new,” said Elizabeth Freeze of Nashville. “I like to take him out to events like this. Just a few weeks ago I took him to the Pumpkinfest.”
Adults and children alike admired a wall of buttons in the Soundsuits room.
Hans Schmitt-Matzen, head designer at the Frist Center and MTSU alumnus, spoke about his involvement in the setup of the room where the Soundsuits were displayed.
“I worked with one of our graphic designers, Brandon Gnetz,” Schmitt-Matzen said.
Schmitt-Matzen also worked with Bob Faust from Cave’s team.
“We sort of just helped him execute the design,” Schmitt-Matzen said.
The day ended on the first floor with a “Listen, Move, Imagine” performance where young dancers wore their own colorful Soundsuits.
The “Nick Cave: Feat” exhibition will run through June 24, 2018.
See a full gallery below.
For more information and to learn more about Nick Cave and his Soundsuits, click here.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Tayhlor Stephenson, email [email protected].
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