In Absence: Installation in the works could become permanent at Mona

“Our ability to tell the complex stories of Country, culture and community and our layered connections to these is unlike any other.” Check out Mona’s next big thing.

In Absence, 2019, Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office. Photo Credit: Ben Hosking. Image Courtesy the artists and the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

A huge installation, which used to be on display at Melbourne’s NGV, will soon find a new home on the waterline at Mona, after years of planning.

In Absence is a 9.5-metre black structure, which appears as a single large formation, but is actually made up of two separate towers.

They’ll be made from a steel frame, covered with black-stained hardwood timber.

Inside each structure, hundreds of little hand blown black glass murnongs, or daisy yams, will adorn the walls, creating a ‘glitter effect’ in the sun.

“The blackened timber-clad structure is bisected by ‘a slice of nothingness’: a pathway cleaving the pavilion and luring visitors inside, where twin circular chambers open to the sky,” a Mona spokesperson said.

“Its geometry references Aboriginal stone eel traps and houses 1600 murnong or ‘daisy yam’ tubers blown in black glass.”

In Absence, 2019, Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office. Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

The installation will also include a scent diffuser, releasing an ash scent.

In Absence is currently under construction and will be located on the southwestern edge of the MONA peninsula.

It will sit on a five metre high platform.

The work is designed by Kokatha/Nukunu artist Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office architects Kim Brigland and Aaron Roberts.

Ms Scarce said she was excited to see the work showcased at Mona.

‘In Absence was created for the purpose of truth telling – to celebrate Aboriginal Culture and connection to Country,’ she said.

“For us, it was always about community and In Absence is a place for visitors to listen and learn about the innovative practices Aboriginal have.
“We are extremely proud it will live on in the grounds at Mona.”

Tasmanian Aboriginal cultural adviser Caleb Nichols-Mansell said the work would be impactful for the museum.

“I am excited to see the impact this work has on visitors to the museum and the conversations that come from time spent with this work,” he said.

“Our ability to tell the complex stories of Country, culture and community and our layered connections to these is unlike any other and I think this is evident in this contemplative sculptural work.”

Mona has approval to have the work on display for a period of 12 months, but it’s recently lodged an application to make it permanent.

The installation has been in the works at Mona since before the Covid pandemic.

Originally published as In Absence: Installation in the works could become permanent at Mona