Matt Bonner has an unlikely skill of bringing inanimate objects to life. In particular the Geelong Town Hall which he transformed last year as part of Geelong After Dark and will do again for 2016’s incarnation of the event.
The morning I speak to Matt he’s hours away from having his first trial run of his projections on the iconic Geelong building. There’s a sense of nervousness, but also excitement for how the images will appear and transform after tonight.
“It’s always good to see,” Matt says.
“Often you’ll do something and in your head you can imagine it working and you just hope it works. There’s always that anxiety of wanting it to look as good as you hope.”
The latter may arise specifically due to the complexity of the town hall’s facade.
“When I’m doing smaller fun stuff like Geelong After Dark I can really work out what to do with the columns but when you do the other projection work, and putting photos up there, it can be a bit harder to see because of the depth. But it is quite a challenging building,” he says.
For last year’s After Dark event, Matt took a more mechanical approach to his projections. Turning the town hall into a train station of sorts, though this year takes a completely different approach to recreating the building in two projections called ‘Breathe’ and ‘Float’.
“I’m still working on it at the moment, but essentially I’m trying to make the building look like it’s breathing in and out. And I’m hoping to make the building breathe and then behind the columns have a heart beating and veins all around the building. And that one also has a bit of a soundscape,” he says.
“And with ‘Float’, I want the building to look like a surreal landscape – as if it’s crumbling. Things floating across the building and make it a really surreal piece.”
Made popular through events like White Night in Melbourne and various other experimental art functions, Matt first cut his teeth in projection giving the background to his friend who DJ’d at many FReeZA gigs in Geelong. He then went on to do a number of other events including one at Big Day Out and has since continued on with his love of all things multimedia with his own business, Bonart Multimedia.
Matt’s projections are just one of the many elements that make up Geelong After Dark, and one of the greatest things about the evening is that so many local artists and creatives are getting on board.
“That’s the only downside for me is I don’t get see anyone else’s artworks,” Matt says of manning the projections on the night, before adding, “I’ve already got something planned for 2017.”
For more information on other Geelong After Dark please visit: .com.au. The more sneak previews closer to the date of Geelong After Dark May 6th
Check out Matt痴 Facebook artist page www.facebook.com/amoebart
When & Where: Various locations in Geelong – May 6
Written by Amanda Sherring
