Let it grow! 让它生长吧!
- A cross-disciplinary semester project by Fun guys
Design
Date, Location
- 25 January 2023, Wien, Österreich, Universität für angewandte Kunst in Wien, Wien, Österreich, Postsparkasse, Vienna, Austria (Room 149, 1st floor)
Keywords
Environmental Art, Media Art, Interactive Art, Mixed Technique, Spatial Installation, Immersive Experience, Fungus, Mycelium, Mushroom, Sound Sculpture, Sensor
Abstract
Mycelial networks have the ability to interlink entire ecosystems and provide plants and organisms with essential nutrients. The installation Let it grow invites participants to immerse themselves in a physical space in order to connect to a growing network in a multisensory way. As participants perceive the emerging sense of belonging, they can develop a soundscape using three physical mushroom sculptures. Each of the mushrooms emits acoustic signals when touched, creating a unique atmosphere as each participant interacts. Once the installation‘s narrative cycle is over, every participant receives a spore bomb to bury in their personal neighborhood - to bring new mycelial networks to life. Photos: © Maria Bürger + Linya Shi
Description
Recflection on the collaboration Qingyu Zhang: Non-human species allowed me to move from an anthropocentric perspective to a subtle but vital corner that I have never stopped to see, hear and smell. I studied the true nature of the fungus from a scientific point of view, and combined it with an artistic strategic approach to explore just a tiny of its giant iceberg with millions of images. From the text to imagining the connection of the fungus, from the interaction to closing the distance with the fungus, from the perception to touching the fungus, we could reach immersive mingling both bodily and mindfully. This „New New Synthesis“ allows people and fungi to form a kind of Holobiont. The whole design process was more fulfilling and passionate than other design experiences for me, and I have reached an inexplicable understanding with three other friends with different but like-minded professions, listening to each other‘s opinions and appreciating each other so that we could always make decisions quickly. From the very beginning, each of us had our own role. Four different parts of physical installation, fungal music, visual images, and code connection gradually approached each other, which is also the process of gradual mutual integration and a more tacit understanding that would finally form our extremely satisfactory work. It is „New New Synthesis“ both inside and outside the design for me. Viktor Schöll: Personally, I consider the work to be very enriching throughout. I appreciated the fact that we took the time to organize the project together, held weekly meetings, and distributed our skills and responsibilities as evenly as possible. The divided to-do's at the end of each session greatly helped to maintain a work rhythm and consistently make progress. Retrospectively, we probably could have spent less time on research in order to bridge the intensive working hours towards the end of the deadline and presentation. However, I also recognize that it was necessary to gain deep insights into our chosen topic and to find out which projects had already been implemented and how we could benefit from them. When there were disagreements, we always relied on group harmony and gave ourselves time to look at these things with a professional distance and re-evaluate them the following day. This kind of collaboration in particular has instilled in me a sense of trust and cohesion for my future projects, and I will continue to adopt this working-style as much as possible. Thank you, especially to my colleagues, for this semester project. Maria Bürger: Often there is this idea of a perfect group work. Everyone working according to their strengths and counterbalancing weaknesses – everyone bringing in what they feel like at this moment in their professional development, contributing in their personal way and taking a lot away from the collaboration. Harmony and mutual understanding when it comes to important issues, but also fruitful discussions where different opinions are taken into account while trying to develop the final idea. Group work as a true group effort. Often this fantasy does not come to life in reality, but this time it did. It just did, and it was the greatest joy. Sincerest thanks to the three of you! And many thanks also to everyone for the helpful mentoring and feedback. It was an amazing time. Linya Shi: Rather than describing it as a completely perfect group collaboration (which is a well-known thing already :) I would describe it as a warm, insightful and valuable life experience that has given me the confidence and backbone to take on every future collaborative challenge. "Now I AM the person who has had a perfect group experience!" There may be a little bit of over-pride, but I'm still quite proud of our collaboration. To describe this feeling more concretely, I would like to list some valuable details of it. - We used the online collaboration tool miro a lot upfront - you can see everyone's progress clearly - Each member prepares well before each group meeting - When sharing ideas, we respect each other and listen carefully without interrupting - We use collaborative toolkits (polling, OKRs, block diagram maps, etc) Sometimes, during a meeting to discuss the concept and decide how to summarise it, I suggested writing down key words, Kira suggested linking or putting cases from the same area together, and Viktor suggested that we could give credit to the cases we liked. In this way we advance the project step by step - Each group meeting will specify when the next group will gather and what will be discussed - We list out all the tasks that need to be done and everyone has a clear division of labour - Everyone knows exactly which part we are responsible for and which part we are good at - We all thank each other for our works - We hug when we say “see you” We always support each other as we work together. When I get tired and need a break, I worry that there's still a lot of work left to do. However, when I look back, I realize that the group has a tacit understanding to fill in the gaps. We also bring joy to each other at times, and the jokes that are inexplicably born makes working never get boring. It was a bit of sadness towards the end of the project, and I believe anyone would have been sad to part with such unity of purpose and energy. I would love to say "it was great that it happened", "it was great that I chose to work with you as a team", "I'm proud to have created such a beautiful art with you".
Material, Format
Coding, Projector, Breath Sensor, Touch Sensor, Light Box, Clay Model, Professional Audio
Associated Media Files
Image#1- Image#2
- Image#3
