VISUAL ART
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NICK CAVE: UNTIL US artist’s ambitious installation confronts gun violence and racism
This curious culture clash of gun violence and gaudy sentimentality is testament to the dedication and skill of Tramway’s instal team. Thousands of spinning glittery- kitsch garden ornaments fi ll Gallery 2, rotated by hundreds of disco-ball motors bulk ordered from China. People walking through the door light up with child-like delight at the sensory spectacle followed by a moment of recognition as they notice glittering symbols such as guns, bullets and teardrops hovering within the installation. Next they become intent on working out how the magical effect of an invisible wind is achieved by mechanical means.
At the centre of the gallery is ‘crystal cloudscape’, a
fl oating island made of re-purposed chandeliers. Yellow ladders extend up to the edge of this glitzy cushion, which viewers climb to access a jumbled dream-world-apart. Nick Cave is a collector of ceramic ornaments, imitation fl owers, antique toys and of racist memorabilia, which he has spent the last decade gathering from vintage shops and yard sales. A cacophonous array of mantelpiece paraphernalia is frozen in morbid still life. Flowers bloom indefi nitely, presided over by cast-iron fi gurines depicting a conventional racist caricature of an African American. Here, Cave has built these fi gurines their own Eden and furnished them with butterfl y nets so they can frolic through his bountiful landscape. Visitors are invited to survey this strange land briefl y before dismounting awkwardly, backwards down the ladders. Back on the concrete fl oor below, this utopian vision of
eclectic harmony evaporates and thousands of shiny beads and glittering ornaments press in to take its place. (Jessica Ramm) ■ Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 24 Nov ●●●●●
1 Sep–31 Oct 2019 THE LIST 99