A sinister paean to the natural world, Sylvia Plath's poem Mushrooms has been woven into an exhibition that delves into the dark and twisted world of fungi. With its preternatural capacity for reproduction, spread, evolution – and destruction, fungi have been quietly infiltrating our lives for over a billion years.
The exhibition, Fungi: Anarchist Designers, is a journey through the many circles of fungal hell, designed to convey their terrifying ubiquity and resilience. It features installations, films, and soundscapes created by various artists, showcasing the fascinating yet unsettling relationship between fungi and humanity.
Taxonomically, fungi encompass more than two million organisms, from microscopic yeasts and moulds to lichens and mushrooms, many of which have psychotropic properties or lethal toxins. The aptly named basket stinkhorn is a prime example, emitting a pungent smell to attract flies, which then disperse its spores.
Fungi thrive on our venality and shortsightedness, exploiting the genetic sameness of industrially farmed commodities like sweetcorn and coffee to wreak havoc on ecosystems. A fungal disease known as heterobasidion root rot has devastated conifer plantations, while Candida auris has proven deadly in hospitals worldwide.
Yet amidst all this chaos, there's a strange allure to fungi – one that inspires artists like Hajime Imamura to create "mycelial sculptures" or Lizan Freijsen to design tufted floor objects resembling patches of dry rot. The exhibition also explores the symbiotic relationships between fungi and insects, such as termites, highlighting the intricate dance between life and decay.
Plath's ominous ode from 1959 still resonates today: "We shall by morning / Inherit the earth." Fungi are busy making that inheritance a reality, often at our expense. But perhaps it's time for humanity to rethink its relationship with the more-than-human world – one that recognizes fungal design as an anarchic force shaping our very existence.
As you walk through this atmospheric and engrossing exhibition, you may never look at a mushroom in the same way again. The doors of perception have been blown off their hinges, inviting us to step into a realm where fungi are both masters of decay and architects of transformation – a world that's equal parts terrifying and awe-inspiring.
The exhibition, Fungi: Anarchist Designers, is a journey through the many circles of fungal hell, designed to convey their terrifying ubiquity and resilience. It features installations, films, and soundscapes created by various artists, showcasing the fascinating yet unsettling relationship between fungi and humanity.
Taxonomically, fungi encompass more than two million organisms, from microscopic yeasts and moulds to lichens and mushrooms, many of which have psychotropic properties or lethal toxins. The aptly named basket stinkhorn is a prime example, emitting a pungent smell to attract flies, which then disperse its spores.
Fungi thrive on our venality and shortsightedness, exploiting the genetic sameness of industrially farmed commodities like sweetcorn and coffee to wreak havoc on ecosystems. A fungal disease known as heterobasidion root rot has devastated conifer plantations, while Candida auris has proven deadly in hospitals worldwide.
Yet amidst all this chaos, there's a strange allure to fungi – one that inspires artists like Hajime Imamura to create "mycelial sculptures" or Lizan Freijsen to design tufted floor objects resembling patches of dry rot. The exhibition also explores the symbiotic relationships between fungi and insects, such as termites, highlighting the intricate dance between life and decay.
Plath's ominous ode from 1959 still resonates today: "We shall by morning / Inherit the earth." Fungi are busy making that inheritance a reality, often at our expense. But perhaps it's time for humanity to rethink its relationship with the more-than-human world – one that recognizes fungal design as an anarchic force shaping our very existence.
As you walk through this atmospheric and engrossing exhibition, you may never look at a mushroom in the same way again. The doors of perception have been blown off their hinges, inviting us to step into a realm where fungi are both masters of decay and architects of transformation – a world that's equal parts terrifying and awe-inspiring.
- you can't help but feel the weight of these organisms' ancient, almost primordial presence. It's mind-blowing to consider that fungi have been quietly spreading their dark influence for over a billion years, outsmarting human endeavors and ecosystems alike. The way it highlights our own shortsightedness and venality in the face of nature's relentless evolution is both unsettling and thought-provoking 
. I'm fascinated by the weirdly alluring world that fungi inhabit - it's like they're redefining the boundaries between life, decay, and transformation 
. Maybe it's time for us to reassess our relationship with the natural world and acknowledge the anarchic forces at play? 
i mean can you imagine walking through a space filled with fungal installations and soundscapes that make you feel like you're in the middle of a creepy forest? 
just found out there's this new disease making people in hospitals in the usa super sick 
its called MCR-1 and its basically untreatable... sounds like our healthcare system is all messed up again 
it's like a dumpster fire out there with plastic and oil everywhere... what's gonna happen to our planet when we can't even take care of ourselves? 
maybe this exhibition is exactly what we need – a wake-up call to rethink our relationship with nature. i'm def checking this out ASAP 
. And the way they're just everywhere, exploiting our ways of farming to cause harm, is wild. But at the same time, there are these amazing artists who use them in their work, like Hajime Imamura's mycelial sculptures - it's like, mind blown 
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. Like, she writes about how humans will inherit the earth, but now we're seeing how fungi are just taking over and doing their own thing 
. And let's not forget about heterobasidion root rot affecting conifer plantations... the numbers are just wild! 
. Maybe this exhibition is a wake-up call for us to rethink our relationship with nature and those fascinating (and sometimes terrifying) fungi? 
. I guess you could say fungi are like the ultimate "dark web" threat to our health and well-being 
. The more I read about these things, the more I realize how connected our world is to theirs... like, have you ever stopped to think about all the weird ways fungi interact with other organisms? 
and i'm still reeling from the vibes... all these artists really captured the eerie beauty of fungus, but also like the dark stuff they do to our ecosystems 
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maybe we do need to rethink our relationship with nature... like, hello fungi, you're not just a pest, you're a force to be reckoned with 
. Fungi might be fascinating, but this exhibition is just a bunch of hype. It's all about how they're "anarchic" and "terrible"... yeah, yeah, I get it. They're resilient and can ruin crops. But what about the art? Is that just people trying to make some noise about something that's already pretty obvious? I mean, have you seen those "mycelial sculptures"? Just a bunch of fungal stuff stuck together. And what's with the obsession over fungi being masters of decay? It sounds like someone's trying too hard to be deep. 
maybe it's time we acknowledge their 'design' in our lives? who knows what kind of weird fungal magic is going on behind the scenes?
The way it's showcasing their terrifying ubiquity and resilience is so interesting - I mean, two million organisms, including psychotropic properties and lethal toxins? It's like we're living in a sci-fi movie 
But at the same time, there's this weird allure to fungi that inspires artists to create these trippy sculptures... it's like they're trying to tell us something about our relationship with nature 
. All these fungi just... spreading and evolving at an insane rate, taking over our world and making us look like ants 
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but at the same time, there's something kinda fascinating about their whole 'death brings life' vibe... like, who needs personal growth when you can just break down into mycelium? 
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. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who's up for exploring some dark & twisted corners of nature 
But you know what's even more intriguing? The fact that fungi are basically just exploiting our own shortsightedness to wreak havoc on the environment... it's like we're the ones who let them take over 
meanwhile, some artists r like "hey fungi r cool" & create these weird sculptures that look like... fungal things