METAMYCOBODIES

I had a dream.

It started with a single point on my left arm.

That spore released filmy white tentacles

and it grew, multiplied, tangled with one another before my eyes.

It clutched onto my chest, my legs, my toenails;

crystalising around my body until I could no longer move.

My body had become a mycelium territory.

~ from METAMYCOBODIES

METAMYCOBODIES is an experimental audio project which explores the emergent relations between mycelial structures and human anatomy. Such complex entanglement dismisses the notion of dualist separation, and rather creates a phenomenon in which they transgress human, fungi, and technology as species/things.  This theatrical audio piece examines provocative questions around the meaning of ‘body’, grounded in academic research and hands-on laboratory experimentations.

METAMYCOBODIES – an experimental audio project

Voices: Christopher Lunnon, George Andrews, Luca Hargitai

The Making of METAMYCOBODIES – a documentary

The experimental audio piece comes with a short documentary film, which is centred around a discussion with anatomist Dr Sarah Simblet. Not only is this film a means to share another layer of knowledge, but it is also an experimental platform in which the essence of sound, images, content and associations converge to spawn new meanings.

“Through creating the documentary, I discovered fascinating tensions between text and images. The meaning of the text piece written for the experimental audio began to transform as they were conjoined with signifying visuals. The ‘slimy’ in the text piece referred to the human body, yet when coupled with the macro video of mushrooms in the documentary film, it became suggestive of fungi being a slimy creature.”

~ from my design sketchbook

The documentary uncovers the various background research, experimentations and intertwining processes which accumulated and manifested as the project itself.  

The Making of METAMYCOBODIES – a documentary  (subtitles available)

“Intimate bodily exploration with mycelium that I had been growing on honey-water. I decided to document this with macro videography as I was attracted to the idea of creating an abstract rendition of this interaction….

First time trying macro photography/videography – difficult to achieve perfect balance between blurriness and sharpness, but after hours and hours of experimenting, I was able to obtain a satisfying result. Going in and out of focus was exactly like the atmosphere I had in my dream…

By utilising the shallow depth of field characteristic of macro lenses, I was able to literally ‘blur the boundaries’ between the mycelium and my body…

A thought: the power lies in nature of the apparatus reflecting the content itself.”

~ excerpts from my design sketchbook