Browse Exhibits (1 total)

In 1983, Talking Heads filmed a concert film at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Filmed at the culmination of their tour for their album Speaking in Tongues, the film quickly became a cult classic upon its release in September of 1984. One of the most enduring images from the film is of Talking Heads' lead singer, David Byrne, in a big suit designed especially for him to wear during the tour. Despite these images, Byrne had attempted, through the clothing he and the band wore throughout the rest of the film, to curate an image of a band that was a collective rather than a group of individuals. While this ultimately failed at this juncture because Byrne wore the big suit and other band members wore clothing that did not fit into the neutral aesthetic he was attempting to curate, Byrne has since perfected the ability to lose the individual in the collective of a band. 

In this exhibit, Byrne's attempts at creating a collective are traced from the early days of Talking Heads to the present. The media included is early footage of Talking Heads playing at the Kitchen in 1975, Stop Making Sense (1984), David Byrne: Live in Austin (2007), and David Byrne's American Utopia (2020). Byrne has spoken extensively about his hopes of showing a collective onstage, and this exhibit draws from his own words in interviews and the cinematic sources that show his attempts. It traces his fashion choices from simply dressing "preppy" during the early days of Talking Heads to tailoring his entire band in the same suit, as he did during his show on Broadway, including the version that was filmed by Spike Lee in 2020. 

In tracing Byrne's attempt to unify his band into one, the exhibit also examine his motivation for doing so. The exhibit attempts to answer why a lead singer may want to appear equal to his band and show them as a collective rather than a group of individuals. Additionally, the exhibit explores the greater ideals that Byrne expressed in his latest tour, Broadway show, and film, American Utopia, which indicates why he is interested in pursuing collectivity and shedding individualism.