Neutron Star performance art workshop informed by Indigenous Knowledge, Queer Identity and quantum physics

Artistic practice—informed by the transdisciplinary intersection of astrophysics, Indigenous knowledge, and neuroscience—may lead to inclusive, meaningful an positive social change. (Sullivan 2006). This is accomplished by examining lightning through the lens of sexual difference, Indigenous and scientific philosophical inquiry, and sculpture and performance art. The aim of the creative practice and process is to invite audiences to expand upon their perception of identity through learning the teachings of Indigenous Knowledge, non-archival art and the process of making. (Cameron 2005). The scientific-philosophical research within this practice sparked the artist’s departure from the binary lexicon by identifying not as a woman or a man but as lightning—building upon their lifelong transdisciplinary creative practice. Bon Mott _/\_ identifying as lightning was sparked by Bon Scott, the singer and songwriter of the Australian rock band AC/DC from 1974 until their death in 1980. When asked by a journalist whether they were the 'AC' or the 'DC', Bon Scott replied, "Neither, I'm the lightning flash in the middle." (Walker 1994, p. 149) Bon Scott’s identification as the lightning flash in the band's logo can have multiple meanings: AC/DC is an abbreviation for an alternating current/direct current electrical power system, from which the band takes its name. It also means 'bisexual' in 1970's English slang and is a transgender identity-fluid-crossing description in the genderdiverse communities of Indonesia. A developing model on the origins of lightning within Western Science is that lightning originates from cosmic rays generated from supernovae. (Binns et al. 2019). Cosmic rays enter the Earth's atmosphere, collide with oxygen and nitrogen to produce another shower of X-rays and subatomic particles. The lightning strikes we see occur from electrons moving between clouds and Earth's surface. In this model, lightning is intergalactic in origin, taking millions of years to reach our ozone layer in the form of cosmic rays. The electrical energy in a thunderstorm splits apart nitrogen molecules, which then combine with oxygen to form nitrates. Nitrates fertilize the soil and mineralise water, known as the nitrogen cycle. Just as cosmic rays are formed in supernovae, the iron in our blood was formed in the cores of dying stars through nuclear fusion, seeded across the cosmos through supernovae. This leads to the science of identification as lightning, learning from Wakaŋ— a word meaning mysterious, powerful, and intangible energetic force in Dakota, Lakota and Nakota (Oceti Ŝakowiŋ - The Seven Council Fires) Knowledge. Learning the science of the origins of lightning motivated Bon Mott to curate the transdisciplinary art lab called Neutron Star for radical artists Indigenous and/or non-binary, transgender, participants from backgrounds in performance art, dance, and theory, hosted by activist Guillermo Gómez-Peña and the international performance troupe 'La Pocha Nostra’.