Clothing designer takes up residency

Top: Artist-in-residence Nick Cave, right, works with graduate art student Yuyen Chang in an apparel design class. Photo: Jeff Miller Bottom: Cave says the point of his work is political: It’s an artistic statement about African Americans designed to function as protection and disguise in an often-hostile society. Courtesy: Nick Cave Details: Nick Cave will present a public slide lecture, “‘Sound Suits’ and ‘Lucky Charms’: The Art of Nick Cave” Thursday, Sept. 23, at 5:30 p.m. in L140 Elvehjem. A reception will follow Cave’s talk. See also: Residents extend stay courtesy of Arts Institute

This perfect Friday afternoon cries out for a trip to the Union Terrace, but Phillip Pilarski isn’t listening, at least not now.

Instead of taking his ease on the lakefront, Pilarski has staked out a corner of a sun-besotted studio in the School of Human Ecology. At present, he is gutting the seam of a man’s suit, which he is about to transform into a woman’s ball gown.

“I never realized how intricate a suit is,” he confesses. “It’s really an intricate piece of work.”

Pilarski, a senior majoring in apparel design, received this assignment from Nick Cave, renowned Chicago clothing designer and visual artist. Cave is the first artist to come to the university as part of a new interdisciplinary residency program under the auspices of the Arts Institute.

As part of Cave’s UW–Madison class, Extending the Body: Experiments in Clothing, Pilarski and his 17 compatriots must deconstruct a man’s suit and refashion it into something else.

The second week into the semester, students are discovering just what goes into the production of a piece of tailored apparel, but, as the semester “wears” on, they will tackle more abstract issues as well, gaining new insight into their society and themselves in the process.

Cave is widely known for his Robave clothing boutique in Chicago and also for his “Sound Suit” project, ongoing since 1986. The “Sound Suits” are wearable art, made from throwaway materials including bottle caps and twigs. One important constant in the project has been to cover the performer almost entirely, with only the eyes visible, and often just barely.

Cave says the point is political, an artistic statement about African Americans: His work is designed to function as protection and disguise in an often-hostile society.

“The questions you ask are really important,” Cave says. “For example, are we learning about clothing in this class, or are we learning about something else?”

His students will have 10 weeks to sort it all out, and probably will need the entire time.

“Nick’s an incredibly demanding teacher,” says Sonya Y.S. Clark, assistant professor of environment, textiles and design. She was Cave’s student when he taught at the Art Institute of Chicago in the early ’90s. Last year Clark and Tom Loeser, associate professor of art, were instrumental in proposing Cave to the Arts Institute. Clark knows firsthand what an asset Cave will be to his students.

“Nick has a gift for pushing students beyond what they think they’re capable of doing,” she says. “And the benefits of that carry over into all areas of a student’s life. You begin to have confidence in yourself in everything you do.”

That intense level of interaction is higher education at its best, according Tino Balio, executive director of the Arts Institute, which is coordinating the funding for three semester-long interdisciplinary arts residencies this academic year. “While shorter residencies by guest artists offer students an introduction, having someone like Cave here for a longer period of time will help them build a relationship,” Balio says.

Extending the Body is a cross-college collaboration of the UW–Madison departments of Art and Environment, Textiles and Design. Balio says such interdisciplinary courses help keep both scholarship and individuals fresh. He says the ensuing energy extends to the broader community as well as the university. “Since these residencies all include a public presentation, we’re hoping to establish, renew or strengthen relationships beyond the campus,” he says.

Later in the semester, Extending the Body students will present an exhibition of the work they did for the class.