VCA ART 2022

Bon Mott

PhD


I am a neurodiverse, nonbinary artist, curator and educator who exhibits internationally. My practice is informed by learning Indigenous Knowledge. Living on stolen land, I am committed to collaborating with First Nations creatives.


I make sculpture site-specific installations activated by performance art using process, film, photography, sound, silk, steel, bronze, magnets, chains and beads. My exhibitions and artist talks are funded by community grants and arts institutions.


I identify as lightning and collaborate with physics researchers on the science of lightning and cosmic rays. My methodology is reciprocal nurturing through collaborating with my community of nonnormative artists. I direct a gallery called Second Space Projects 2SP, funded by Yarra City Arts, the University of Melbourne’s GSA, UMSU, and SSAF for marginalised students, artists and curators.

Bon Mott _/\_, Runaway Breakdown and the mysteries of lightning (detail of installation), Simona Castricum (left), Jake Treacy (right), single-channel videos, glass beads, luminescent stars, magnets, sculpted wax cast bronze lightning bolt, brass coated steel chain, pearls, dimensions viable, Kings Artist-Run, 2022. Script, sound and camera operation by Murri filmmaker Simon Rose, Birriah | Gurreng Gurreng (The Great Aboriginal People). Portrait images: Amanda Fordyce. Documentation by Kenneth Suico.
Bon Mott _/\_, Lightning in the middle, (detail) Runaway Breakdown and the mysteries of lightning), Ceiling suspended sculpted wax cast in bronze (bronze 187x 3.3cm x 0.5cm) brass coated steel chain, gold magnets, dimensions viable, Kings Artist-Run, 2022. Supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grant and Deft Creative. The title refers to Runaway Breakdown and the mysteries of lightning, an essay by Alexander V. Gurevich and Kirill P. Zybin published in 2005 by Physics Today. Documentation by Kenneth Suico.
Bon Mott _/\_,Elevating the vibrant voices of non-normative creatives, Single-channel video, 2m49s, Gertrude Projection Festival, 2022. Cultural advice from Boon Wurrung senior Elder Dr N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs AM and Simon Rose Birriah | Gurreng Gurreng. Curator: Eleanor Scicchitano. Artists: Karen Casey, kori / sean miles, Jess Gall, Jake Treacy, Bon Mott, Alexander Powers, Simona Castricum. Radical Tenderness: Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Balitrónica Gómez. Editing: Andrew Brinsmead Animation: Qayyum Ariffin Razif
Bon Mott _/\_, A way back to go forward (detail) (Whole Self), 16 momme silk ink penetration, cast bronze, chain, fishing line, chiffon ribbon, luminescent stars, crystals, gold and silver magnets. Size: Installation Dimensions variable (silk H 173cm Bon Scott’s height), 2022. Collaboration: (Bon Mott kori (FKA Sean Miles) (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Ahuru, Tainui/Waikato). Portrait photographer: Amanda Fordyce Location: Incinerator Gallery. Aberfeldie VIC. Australia. (Midsumma Festival) Curator: Jake Treacy. Artist Credits left to right: Jack Mannix, Bon Mott, Adam Sutardy, Spencer Lai, Karina Utomo, Callan Halles, Penelope Trotter, Nic Diprose, Karen Casey. Funding: Creative Victoria and Deft Creative. Documentation by Kenneth Suico.
Bon Mott _/\_, Bonfire: Touch Too Much., Printed double-glazed toughened glass panels, black welded powder-coated steel frame, rubber, powder-coated sheet metal, smoke machine, charcoal, broken glass, magnets, plastic letters, black fabric, microphone stand, guitar leads, and microphones, 2019. Documentation by Jonathan Griggs.
Bon Mott _/\_, in collaboration with Chicano artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Neutron Star and other cosmic bodies. (performance still), mapped projection of stars, guitar, chair, 2018. Facilitators: La Pocha Nostra Performance art film presentation link: https://www.bonmott.com/2022-R-D/Neutron-Star-presentation-for-the-2022-Oxford-XII-International Title: Neutron Star performance art laboratory curatorial analysis for the Oxford XII International Astronomy Conference. Year: 2022 Location: Observatory. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Buenos Aires. Argentina. Documentation by Amanda Fordyce.
Bon Mott _/\_, Darling Nikki, Transmuting into Bon Mott /\ (Prince From Minneapolis) (performance still), Digital prints onto 16mm silk, microphone stands and microphones, gold and silver magnets, film projection and sound equipment, and electric fans, 2018. The University of Minnesota. Curator: Arun Saldanha. Technician Assistant: Saulaman Schlegel Performance link: Duration: 8 minutes. Projection/Videographer: Jonathon Griggs Photographic Documentation Henry Benson.
Bon Mott _/\_, In the Beginning, Let There Be Light. (Paradise Lost. Festival A-Part)1., Magnets, Chain, Glass of Campo Santo Stefano and Accademia Di Belle Arti, Venice, Italy, aerospace aluminium foil, press studs, magnets, key-ring and chain, and fishing line, 205 x 18 x 7cm, 2017. Chapelle Notre-Dame de Pitié. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. France. Installation: Ana Arnoudova,and Jacques Van Der Merwe. Image credit: Sabrina Bellenzier, Fenia Kotsopoulou.Documentation by Felix Rodewaldt.

1.Belford, Ronald Scott. Let there be Rock, Let there be Rock, Atlantic Records. 1977.

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campus is situated, the people of the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung, who have created art, made music and told their stories here for thousands of generations. We also acknowledge and extend our respect to the Traditional Owners of all lands on which our work is viewed, shared and enjoyed, and to all Elders, past, present and emerging.

This website may contain sensitive or triggering content