The sound suits are designed to be wearable, imparting a grounded character to the exhibit. Instead of taking the suits too seriously, the viewer can imagine them as costumes in which the serious self is left behind in favor of the inner child. Like a mascot at a team game or a Disney character, the sound suits can also be conceived as disguises that obscure the mundane human being inside. No one things of Big Bird as a person in a bird suit, because to do so would ruin the spell. In the same way, one of Nick Cave's sound suits is to be seen and experienced at face value. Because the costumes are disguises and masks, the viewer is also asked to contemplate the role of such objects in traditional festivals from around the world. During Carnival, elaborate costumes are worn in a festive street party signaling ironically the...

Duality and the union of opposites are at play. In some cultures, wearing masks is an act reserved for shamans with great spiritual power. Art has the same type of transformational power that a witch doctor has: the power to heal the spirit.
Many but not all of the sound suits are furry, begging to be touched as well as shaken while the wearer dances. All the suits are multitextural. Some are directly and purposefully reminiscent of East Indian tribal wear, such as the Gujarati mirrored fabrics. Crocheted flowers and oversized silk blossoms adorn other suits. Many appear as if they cannot be worn, and yet when the fabulousness of multicultural festival garb is taken into consideration it is clear that Cave accomplishes his goal of having everyone meeting together at the center of the earth.