JP Mot
Bio: JP, short for Jean-Pierre Mot, is a Cambodian artist born in Montreal. An apostle and a stone make up my given name... I am a saintly sinner who could not cast away the first rock without losing a part of my first name. My surname, in French, means word... In the Ugaritic language, I am God of Death of the land of Canaan. As an omen, shades of darkness surround me much like a nameless crow. In La Fontaine’s tales, I lose to the trickery of the fox. As the village’s idiot, my loving caw bedazzles the failure of an alchemist.
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement:
In your work, what is the link between mythology and technology?
MOT might be...
A Semitic God of Death...
In Ugaritic, Mot is personified as a god of death, who lives in a city named Hmry. His appetite is that of lions in the wilderness, like the longing of dolphins in the sea and he threatens to devour Ba’al himself a god of thunderstorms, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven.
The curse of Ba’al:
I, MOT the God of Death, have cursed Ba’al, the God of Life. The mere Ba’al is spellbound to my laziness. At my dawn, it is ONLY after my glorious daily 10,000 steps that the miscreant shall receive LIGHT... Until my dusk leading to my slumber!”
Recipe of the curse
Mandatory:
— One (1) Plant
— One (1) Home*
Recipe:
— One (1) step counting device ($70)
— One (1) smartphone ($500)
— One (1) modem ($30)
— One (1) smartswitch ($55)
— One (1) UV lightbulb
— One (1) home internet subscription ($30/month)
— One (1) cellphone service with data plan ($40/month)
Optional:
— Two (2) running shoes ($50/pair)
— One (1) god of death onesie ($20 after Halloween)
* Project presupposes access to a location with electricity available.
1 Configure the modem using the home internet
2 Configure the stepcounting device to your smartphone
3 Configure smartswitch to the modem
4 Configure the smartswitch to the smartphone
5 Install UV lightbulb over the plant and plug it into the smartswitch
6 Program the minimum steps necessary in order to receive a notification on your smartphone through your stepcounter
7 Select 10,000 steps
8 Begin walking
If the UV bulb lights up after 10,000 steps— congratulations... Welcome to the world of contemporary alchemy.