Venus Observed is Clayton Thomas (bass) and Phoebe Bognár (flutes). A duo of dynamic energy, sonic playfulness and honed skills, Venus Observed present a context-responsive music, engaging audiences and space with flexibility and improvisational skill. Two globally recognised practitioners of their instruments, it is a rare orbit to find them in Australia at the same time. They play with respect to the land of their meeting, Gadigal land, performing with the knowledge that this has always been a place of invention and sharing and building knowledge through experience.
Clayton Thomas is an innovative double bassist and grass roots organiser with a particular interest in the uniting potentials of improvisation. For over 25 years he has been collaborating with, and learning from, the living masters of free improvisation. His current projects include Sound the Alarm, BELIEVE, Words Fail (with Chris Abrahams and Miles Thomas) and Venus Observed.
Phoebe Bognár is an Australian-born flutist, performer, and composer based in Basel, Switzerland. Known for her creative vibrancy and fluidity, Phoebe embraces a wide spectrum of artistic avenues and entities throughout her numerous projects. She investigates corporeality and the relationship between the self, the instrument, place and each other, applying various flutes, instrument preparations and alterations, voice, objects and her own body.
Phoebe’s current projects include ongoing collaborations with composers Anna Sowa (PL) and Zara Ali (US), as well as her instrumental-performative duo, iipm project (CH) and her improv-duo, Venus Observed (AU). She has performed in various projects with Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien and Ensemble Recherche. Since 2024, Phoebe has been a member of the acclaimed Freiburg-based contemporary music group, Ensemble Aventure. She is the recipient of the 2024 Fritz Gerber Prize awarded by the Lucerne Festival and has received scholarships and awards from the Nicati-de Luze Foundation, the Hirschmann Stipendium, the Ian Potter Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts, among others.
Through art, Phoebe seeks to create new connections and understandings - to each other and to the world we live in.