Soundsuit

Nick Cave

2009

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Black and white press print of a suited white male (George Wallace) speaking into a microphone to a small crowd. A campaign car and an older white woman (not facing the camera) are in the near foreground.
The video installation St. Cecilia comprises the following: two video projectors, suspended from the ceiling, each projecting separate (one left, one right) side-by-side videos that meet in the center. The videos are on two DVDs that play on Pioneer Industrial DVD players. Also hung from the ceiling are a pair of "Audio Spotlight" speakers, each playing separate soundtracks; the tracks can be heard clearly only when standing directly beneath the speakers. The videos are synched with a Dave Jones synchronization unit. The two videos contain footage of a choir singing, as do the soundtracks. All of the aforementioned equipment was acquired specifically for this piece, per the artist's instructions. A subwoofer speaker, placed at the wall directly beneath the projected video, plays the low end of the soundtrack(s), making the choir's voices audible, but the words indiscernible, as one approaches. A floor rug is positioned beneath the speakers, both to aid acoustics and to tacitly lead audience members to stand on it (and therefore discover and listen to the separate soundtracks).
Untitled (Bust of Woman in Purple), Jimmy Lee Sudduth, paint and mud on wood board
House in Thicket, Hale County, Alabama, October 1996, William Christenberry, chromogenic print