In Diamonds and Pearls, Prince sings about reaching for the stars and pulling one down to reveal the truth of love — echoing the way these metals fall to Earth as meteorites and cosmic dust. On the Love Symbol album, Sexy M.F. asks 'Why all the cosmic talk?' — a question this installation takes not as metaphor but as instruction: working with materials that literally come from stars.
Bon Mott's installation suspends a lace bodysuit design by Cath Fletcher (Fashion Designer, Maus Cat Berlin) and Bon Mott's magnets, chains, and mixed metals. At the center of the work is the bodysuit Bon wore while dancing with Prince in Sydney in 2012, alongside jewelry-based sculptures that describe the science of cosmic rays originating from dying stars, turning fabric and metal into diagrams of charged weather. The installation incorporates repurposed jewelry given to Bon by Māori collaborator Kori Miles, and materials sourced from The Arc Minnesota's Value Village thrift stores — part of a disability-rights ecosystem. Special thanks to Tom Kanthak for the Manidoo feathered piece — pheasant feathers, mirror beads and deer antler.
Read Bon Mott's personal story of grief, transformation and dancing on stage with Prince to Hot Thing from the People's Museum's 2018 edition.
