Having this experience of seeing a Nick Cave performance was above and beyond what words can even begin to describe.  Since this day, I have thought about the artwork every single day.  I have excitedly told many friends, fellow teachers and students about the amazing experience.  I have been online trying to find current/future exhibits of his suits so I can travel to see them (no luck).  

The first half of this performance was high energy.  The people in the suits were dancing while a drum line played vibrant, upbeat music.  The dancers were so close to the audience that I could reach out and touch the suits.  I also danced along with them at one point.   Lucky for me, before the show began, I heard someone say that the performance was going toe tart back down a hall to the side.  My friend Shonie and I took advantage of this inside news and went down the end of the hall.  This meant that we were the first to see the performers begin and I got a few great pictures before they really became immersed in the crowd.

Words can not describe the joy that I felt during this portion of the show.  My favorite part about Nick Cave performances is that the viewer has no idea what the dancer's age, gender, race....  and the best part...IT DOESN'T MATTER!

This art screams community and joy.

The second half of the performance had a whole new different energy to it.  This half was very slow paced and gave me all sorts of feelings.  
I'm not even sure that it is worth trying to explain this portion of the performance but I will do my best.  

During this half, a man sat on the stage playing a very slow, chill in organ piece.  It all began with Nick Cave himself and six others slowly and seemingly emotionlessly joining the stage in white jackets and gloves.  Next, seven gentlemen entered the stage, found a stool scattered around and slowly underdressed themselves down to the underwear and had a seat.  The people in white spent the next 40 minutes slowly and meticulously adding amazing, beautiful soundsuit  'accessories' to the men.  

With the music, the slow movements of the people in white, and the quiet intent viewing by the audience, this was a truly insightful, thought-provoking time.  I am not sure what the meaning of this performance was but ever since I witnessed it, I have been trying to figure it out.  Invoked were thoughts of weddings, slavery, fashion, and pop culture.  What an interesting variety of things to cross my mind and to ponder.

After the men were fully dressed and the empty tables removed from the stage, each man slowly stood up and walked about the stage.  Their movements were deliberate and very, very slow.  The suits that they wore were extremely heavy, that was obvious after watching the process and seeing them move.

One by one, the men exited the stage via a ramp to the side and slowly left from the same entrance that the show originally began.

Talk about a magical experience.

April 3, 2015 I attended an interactive art performance at The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design in downtown Asheville.  My good friend Shanna invited me, so I excitedly attended, along with my friend Frank.  I had absolutely no idea what this was about.  Well, other than the text from Shanna the night before saying that I "might get felt up in public."  Horrifying.  This artwork is titled 'Back to the Drawing Board-Performance Crafting, hand in hand.'  I read about the event online and it sounded fun.  

The performance crafting consisted of having the artist, Tanya Aguiñiga put a wool sleeve on each attendee's arm.  Next the arm was wrapped in saran wrap and filled with soapy water.    From there, we all formed a chain so that our 'free' hand was massaging the person's wrapped hand next to us.  We were urged to stand next to someone that we had never met before.  This was such an unusual experience.  I was massaging the squishy, wooly, soapy hand of the girl to my right while having my squishy, wooly, soapy left hand massaged by a woman to my left.  Slowly, over a time of about 20 minutes, the wool began to become felted, and less and less soapy wetness squished around.  As this was going on, more people were coming into the gallery and joining in.  The artist walked around and checked on everyone.  We smiled and laughed at our friend's across the room.  There was soapy water all over the floor.

As the hands began to form into a tight glove around the hands, the saran wrap was removed and we continued to massage.  Once the piece was felted to the desired shape, we pulled the felted glove off to dry by the others.  I haven't been back to the CCCD yet but I need to soon because the artwork is all currently being displayed for all to see.

This was fun.  and bizarre.  and beautiful.  This artwork by Tanya is about community, conversation, experimentation, and innovation.  You can learn more about the artist here.  

You can always watch this super awesome video about the artist and the event at CCCD.  

^Also slightly obsessed with this collaborative piece done by the artist!...