I Heard The Herd At HEARD

New York’s MTA Arts for Transit and Creative Time have brought something pretty damn cool to Grand Central Station on 42^nd Street. Oh yeah, and it’s FREE. No need to worry about coming up with the usual 25 bucks for museum admission. For four more days, anyone who can get time off from work, or those with a need to get from point A to point B, go through Grand Central at 11 am or 2Pm and take a peek at Nick Cave’s performance “Heard” which has dancers from the renowned Alvin Ailey Company.  It is an impressive display of dancers in Nick Cave’s celebrated “Sound Suits”, sculptures cum outfits cum instruments.   The particular collection is a herd of horses meant to be heard while the inhabitants dance, move and swish about. The subtle swishing of the raffia sounds something like leaves rustling, or water coursing through a rocky ravine. The sounds are gentle, the costumes are anything but. Nick Cave’s works are always exquisitely crafted, and these are no exception.  They aren’t my favorite pieces, and I didn’t quite understand why there was a harpist playing intermittently. The added musicians distracted away from the sounds of the suits, but I wonder if the music was meant to guide the dancers and cover up the background noise of the train station.  In the end, the venue wasn’t an ideal one for the Sound suits, but I thoroughly appreciate bringing art to both the primed and the unsuspecting for everyone to enjoy as they see fit.  The kids will most certainly love it.