Mtech Fine Arts. (my)celium. an installation. An exploration of fungus and entropy. by Melissa Roets-Bothma

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1 Mtech Fine Arts (my)celium an installation An exploration of fungus and entropy by Melissa Roets-Bothma

2 ARTIST BIOGRAPHY SPECIAL THANKS MTECH EXHIBITION DECember 2018 Melissa Roets-Bothma is currently a Mtech candidate at the Tshwane Universty of Technology in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts. She achieved her B-Tech (cum laude) at the same institution, with a focus on printmaking, painting and installation. Her current body of work explores the potential of biomaterials, specifically mushroom mycelium. In order to adopt this medium, she had to acquire the skill to practice mycology within a lab environment. Dr Jan van der Merwe: Art supervisor Dr Anne Scheffer: Supervisor Prof Ingrid Stevens: Co-supervisor My husband, friends and family. Melissa intends to further develop mycological materials and the possibilities thereof. MYCELIUM MUSHROOMS ENTROPY page 2 page 3

3 PRESENTING FUNGI ARE THE interface organisms between life and death -Paul Stamets- (my)celium AN INSTALLATION Mycelium noun BOTANY: the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments (hyphae). page 5

4 The installation consists out The installation consists out of mycological artworks which explore the theme of entropy. Mycelium is used as the primary object and subject as a medium to uncover the visuals relating to the cycles of life, the transition of states, and the ultimate dissolution of form. of mycological artworks which explore the theme of entropy. Mycelium is used as the primary object and subject as a medium to uncover the visuals relating to the cycles of life, the transition of states, and the ultimate dissolution of form. Entropy, a scientific term concerned with the distribution of energy, can be broadly defined as the amount of disorder within a system (Neeman & Maharshak, 2006: 198). Entropy is described in the second law of thermodynamics which indicates that within any given system existing in a somewhat ordered state, disorder will increase (Shaw & Davis, 1983:67). Therefore, unless external influences affect the system, the system will always spontaneously move from a state of order to disorder. The term entropy has been interpreted in many ways since its conception in 1865, across numerous academic fields and cultural contexts. Quite commonly the concept of entropy, somewhat pessimistically, refers to the inevitable dissolution of the universe (Colman, 2006:5). The exhibition consist of artworks incorporating a living organism as subject matter and process and explore the concept of entropy. The organisms and documentation represent specific changes in states of a system; they indicate the exchange of energy towards initial disorder and the eventual attainment of complete decay and homogeneity. The entire exhibition consists out of the mycelium of saprophytic mushrooms, manipulated and displayed at different phases of its lifecycle. Paul Stamets (2008:21) refers to saprophytic mushrooms as the primary decomposers, which typically grow on (or rather digest ) and break down materials such as wood, glass or dead animals. Mycelium is the underground fungal network (an organism resembling cobwebs often found under logs) which can spread over thousands of square metres (Stamets, 2005:2). Mycelium makes up the bulk of the organism which will, eventually, during one phase in its cycle fruit mushrooms as a means of reproduction (Stamets, 2005:1). The organism will often fruit if the organism is under threat, for example, when it s at risk of flooding or running out of food. Authors Mendès France and Hénaut (1994:221) maintain a far more optimistic view, claiming that without entropy, there would be no improbability; therefore no art. Neeman and Maharshak (2006:198) present a similar sentiment, describing entropy in art as the balance and the tension between the regular and irregular, the expected and the unexpected themes, which make a piece of art valuable. Due to its ease of metaphorical application, entropy is widely applied within the humanities. Entropy in art is most notably developed academically by Rudolf Arnheim in Entropy in art: An essay on order and disorder (1971) and Yve-Alain Bois and Rosalind Epstein Krauss in Formless: a user s guide (1997). Arnheim s interpretation of entropy includes the same balance between the tension of order and disorder referred to in the quote by Neeman and Maharshak. For Arnheim (1971:41), it is the artists responsibility to produce art which matches the complexity of the human experience. page 6 page 7

5 (MY)CELIUM CATALOGUE By manipulating the organism in different states of its lifecycle, and halting it at specific states the work is employing tension reduction techniques which increase complexity in the work. However, the organism is not allowed to complete its lifecycle. Each organism presented is deeply engaged in the decomposition of its source of food (in both its meaning and its form). The food (potato dextrous agar, grain, straw blocks) provided to the organism will eventually be entirely consumed. Consequently, the organism is betrothed to its own inevitable decomposition. The exhibition consists out of a sectioned off space with clinically white walls. At the entrance of the space various items and materials used in the cultivation of saprophytic mushrooms species are on display. Three phases of the mushroom cultivation lifecycle are utilised: mycelium on a petri-dish containing potato dextrous or malt agar, mycelium culture expanded on grains and, lastly, the fruiting phase. By using an organism to consume objects and subjects, an entropic process is set in motion. page 8 page 9

6 Part 1 SHELVING Shelves, dried mycelium, mushroom books and dried mushrooms. Species: reishi, indian oyster, golden oyster, blue oyster, white elm. On the left and the right side of the entrance two shelves display various mycelium and mushroom objects. The objects on the shelves refer to the written word and meaning. Mushrooms protrude from deformed books, round sheets of mycelium are stitched together in pages and large oyster mushrooms represent the symbol of a book and translated knowledge. Books were soaked in yeast, sterilised at a high pressure and inoculated with mushroom grain spawn. Over a period of weeks the books were party, if not entirely, consumed by the organism, becoming one with the book. The organism breaks down the book, the meanings of its words and the form, to subsequently produce a piece which is formless in the manner of a bizarre, unreadable and unlike anything object. Breaking down not just form, but also words and their meanings. Part 2 TABLE OF LIGHT Light table, petri dishes containing potato dextrous agar / malt agar and mushroom mycelium. Species: reishi, lions mane, blue oyster, blue oyster, king oyster The centre piece of the installation. The light table displays eight petri dishes containing live organisms. These plates were creates a week before display to ensure sufficient growth, but not overgrowth. By the end of the installation, some of the organisms may try to fruit in the dish as a final resort. page 10 page 11

7 (MY)CELIUM page 12 page 13

8 Captured in growth Part 3 3 x round 50mm radius paintings: prints, oil and canvas The canvases depict mycelium within a petri dish, which unlike the mycelium on the table, will not inevitably die. The objective is to capture the likeness of the organisms to highlight its impermanence. The mycelium depicted are that of lions mane, reishi and oyster mushrooms. _ page 14 page 15

9 Mycelia movements Part 4 and 5 Projected animations The first animation shows the first pins of blue oyster mushrooms enlarged at 200x. This animation captures the phase in which the mycelium has entirely consumed the straw in which it was inoculated. Removed from its natural environment, this organism has not successfully fruited and sporulated, and all that is left is the video representation. The second animation depicts a stop animation of mycelium growing in a petri dish on potato dextrous agar, its temporary food source, over the course of three days. This animation highlights the growth, and hints to the inevitable demise awaiting the organism. The images on the right depict stills from the animations. page 16 page 17

10 Transformations Part 6 The printed photographs capture the process arrested in certain phases. The organisms depicted in various phases. Just as in the paintings, these organisms have long since reached the end of their cycles. page 18 page 19

11 Part 7 SHELVING Sterilised grain inoculated with mushroom mycelium. Species: reishi, indian oyster,, blue oyster, golden oyster, white elm The shelf holds sterilised grain bottles inoculated with mycelium. Conventionally, this phase takes place after the mycelium has consumed the agar in a petri dish, to expand the culture. In mushroom cultivation the process of moving an organism into a new, sterilised food source is repeated over and over to preserve the strain. the journey continues The shelf displays jars (fitted with cotton wool to avoid contamination while providing air exchange) containing grain being consumed by the organism. Once the mycelium consumes all the grain it will turn into a solid white block, unable to fruit due to the low presence of oxygen. Thank you Some people think I m a mycological heretic, some people think I m a mycological revolutionary, and some just think I m crazy. Paul Stamets page 20 page 21

12 BIBLIOGRAPHY ARNHEIM, R Entropy and Art: an essay on disorder and order. Berkeley: University Of California Press. BOIS, Y.-A. & KRAUSS, R. E Formless: A user s guide, p doi: uofr art N6488.F8 P ; cbnotes.acta --avant-garde; cbclipping-pdf. COLMAN, F Affective entropy: Art as differential form, Angelaki - Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, 11(1), pp doi: / MENDÈS FRANCE, M. & HÉNAUT, A Art, Therefore Entropy, Leonardo, 27(3), pp NEEMAN, S. & MAHARSHAK, A System s order and disorder - Entropy in math, science, nature and the arts, WSEAS Transactions on Systems, 5(10), pp SHAW, D. & DAVIS, C. H Entropy and Information: A MuItidisciplinary Overview, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 34(1), pp STAMETS, P Mycelium_Running.pdf. New York: USA: Ten Speed Press. page 22 page 23

13 MTech Exhibition 2018 (my) Melissa Roets-bothma