“I didn’t want to speak, but I wanted to be like, ‘Hey kids!’ Then I was

January 20, 2013 1:29 PM

Visual artist Nick Cave (not of The Bad Seeds) worked together for months with students across various departments of the University of North Texas to present Heard, a visual and musical burst of vibrancy based on Cave's childhood experiences of colouring in horses and being told by his mother: "It doesn’t matter if it’s pink. If he wants it to be pink, it can be pink.". And not just pink, even.
posted by divabat (16 comments total)

blah, my title got cut off. the line is from one of the horse dancers referring to the kids ooh-ing and aah-ing over them: “I didn’t want to speak, but I wanted to be like, ‘Hey kids!’ Then I was like, ‘No. I’m a horse. Be a horse.’”
posted by divabat at 1:31 PM on January 20, 2013

I loved this -- so well done all the way through. It's so easy to make a horse costume look like a clownish mess, but the choice of raffia was inspired, because its movement and shine exemplified horses without looking exactly like a poor imitation of a horse's coat. And I laughed out loud when I saw the horse's asses / Ewoks break away at the end.

Re the post title: yeah, you're stuck at 72 characters now. Maybe "No. I’m a horse. Be a horse" would have done it.
posted by maudlin at 1:55 PM on January 20, 2013

Those horses are awesome.
posted by rtha at 2:08 PM on January 20, 2013

This was NOT the Nick Cave I was expecting, but nonetheless, pretty damn cool.
posted by Kitteh at 2:17 PM on January 20, 2013

It would have been something very different if it was that Nick Cave.

"Is that a black horse?"
"Ummm...no?"
"Is it a blood red horse, so sweet and scarlet and free?"
"His name is Mister Pinky."
"You get an 'F', Jennifer."
"But..."
"All beauty must die."
*sobs*
"Here, hold this between your teeth."
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:35 PM on January 20, 2013 [10 favorites]

I'd love to see a stage collaboration between Nick Cave (not of The Bad Seeds) with Warren Ellis (also not of The Bad Seeds).
posted by Matt Oneiros at 2:47 PM on January 20, 2013 [4 favorites]

All these times I've seen his soundsuits in museums and I thought it was Of The Bad Seeds. Thanks for clearing that up (and posting this), divabat!
posted by gusandrews at 3:09 PM on January 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Really neat.

(I find it depressing, though, that the near-universal posture in our society of witnessing something cool is now arm outstretched behind an electronic device.)
posted by threeants at 3:42 PM on January 20, 2013

The horses are coming to Grand Central Terminal in March!
posted by unknowncommand at 5:12 PM on January 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Nick Cave's teacher tried him that right hands are not red, but he was a smartass and started quoting Milton at her.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:37 PM on January 20, 2013

I thought it had some relationship to the Bad Seeds too when I first saw it and didn't realise it was a completely different person until making up this post! I thought Nick Cave was just being interdisciplinary or trying something new or whatever, but I was anticipating rock music somewhere in there...
posted by divabat at 6:35 PM on January 20, 2013

Our daughter went on a field trip to see his work at the SAM, it's really quite lovely.

Also we totally didn't get that it was a different Nice Cave.

/wonders if he has ever worked with Warren Ellis.
posted by Artw at 6:47 PM on January 20, 2013

The horses are coming to Grand Central Terminal in March!

Yes! Another great project from Creative Time, for whom I will relentlessly shill here in the Blue until the cows come home. On the 6:49 departing from track 14.
posted by The Bellman at 7:27 PM on January 20, 2013

I posted about him a while back, here it is
posted by Miko at 10:16 PM on January 20, 2013

“My favorite part was whenever the horse’s butts came off and started dancing,"



That is at about 7:20. and it really is the very best thing.
posted by louche mustachio at 4:25 AM on January 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

I am with gusandrews. Figured he was just one of those polymaths. Why not, right? Not like you can always be on tour.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 8:08 AM on January 21, 2013 [1 favorite]