PROJECT
noun /ˈpräˌjekt/
1. An outcome created by research, interviews, insight, and experiments.
My Work
MYCELIUM
The mushrooms you see on the surface are only half the story. Under the ground lies an interconnected web of fungi called mycelium, which forges underground networks that allow trees to communicate. This collaboration is vital to soil and forest ecosystems and collectively forms what has become known as the “wood wide web”.
Merging touch, sound and digital technology, MYCELIUM is an interactive experience designed to help participants understand how the mycelial network works and why it is important.
It aims to foster cooperation and positive forms of interacting with one another while leaving a lasting emotional and physical connection to what the mycelial network is and what it does for the planet.
MYCELIUM
This project works on the principle of a human circuit, which operates in the same way as the mycelial network.
The parallel drawn here is that people must connect poles, just as mycelium connects trees, to make the system work. Both you and the mycelium conduct electricity which flows through the systems: without the mycelium, the trees cannot communicate and without you, the installation is static.
The emphasis here is on cooperation, the similarity of reaching hands and electricity to the mycelial network, and that you are a critical part of the system.
When the human circuit is connected, light shines and sound is played, giving the audience an immediate sensory feedback to their connection. The green light is inspired by bioluminescent mushrooms, and the sound is created by measuring the bioelectric pulses of mycelium with a synthesizer.
This sound is mixed from work by Merlin Sheldrake and PlantWave.
Playthough of the MYCELIUM Exhibition
In future iterations, this could be expanded to full forest, where multiple poles can be connected by multiple people in different configurations. To light up the whole forest though, every visitor would need to work together.
Future Iterations of MYCELIUM Project
See more about the process here!
MYCELIUM Process Video
