Mycor[Rising]
by A(ki)N
R&D.
Inspired by the expressions of intelligence found in mycelium mycorrhizal networks, we are investigating existing inter-species communication systems and posing questions about the human role in such exchanges.
“In an age when anthropocentrism is fuelling mass extinction and ecocide, it seems vitally important to practise thinking like other beings. Or even, when we feel ambitious, trying to think alongside the deep time oscillations of an entire ecosystem.”
Image created by Anna Spink.
Mushroom Spore Print vs Human Iris representing our mirrors in nature.
Above:
‘Fungi and Trees Their Complex Relationships’ - by Lynne Boddy
Research Questions & Goals.
Thematic:
Can we as a species become more symbiotic with nature by learning from its processes?
Can we utilise the communicative properties of mycelium to enhance connections within our local and global communities?
Which properties of mycelium can we replicate for the benefit of interspecies empathy and connectivity?
How can our mirrors with nature be cultivated?
What is the best way to use visual, performative and participatory arts to make invisible scientific processes more accessible?
What are the similarities between our own biological structure and the processes of mycelium movement?
How does the sentient awareness of mycelium reflect our own levels of consciousness as humans? In turn, by sharing these reflections, does it help people to see the fungi kingdom as a relatable species?
Technical:
Is there a way to record the mycelium network processes and development as they occur in real time? If so, can we methodise it to help us help a particular organism? E.g. identifying sick trees or improving biodiversity in stricken environments?
Possibilities of sound and visual generation through the use of biosensors: How will the output change if humans approach/interact?
Investigating the webbing quality of the hyphae growth metaphorically, visually, and socially.
Can we use interactive installation as a technique to visualise the interactivity in mycelium networks?
Working with weight and motion sensors: developing a visual system of connectivity that would respond to the audience being inside the installation space.
How do mycelium recognise our foot-fall on the ground? Mapping out a microscopic and global network of connection between mycelium and humans.
Above: Image by Dominica Harrison created with the assistance of Midjourney, 2023
The Body as a Host: Anna Spink in improvisation. Viewing the body as a “host” of hyphae - searching for nourishment from my surroundings to feed and flourish from. Considering expansion of mycelium from hyphae: micro-movement (or “mini-zone” to reference Rudolph Laban’s Movement Analysis - LMA) to macro movement (or “superzone” LMA)
Exploring multi-directional movement lead by extremities to imagine how hyphae move through the earth.
Subbody Resonance Butoh Experimentation:
By exploring the contemplative movement qualities and Zen philosophy of Subbody Resonance Butoh, we wish to develop a movement language that invites participants to join the performer in observation; both physically and inwardly. Our research takes inspiration from the “rhizome” world: a world where there is no top, no bottom, no societal hierarchy; a place where everything resonates.
Anna Spink in improvisation.
Above Photo: Anna Spink, prints of Pine wood sap and ash on fingertips. The devastating aftermath of a forest fire in Granada Province, Spain, 2022. Due to human carelessness, 5,000 hectares of land has been destroyed. Natural causes have been ruled out by Forest Fire Investigation Brigade (BIIF).
Vision Board:
To convey the concept that the mere presence of an organism can influence its environment, we wish to play with motion and weight sensors that allow audiences to trigger the visual outputs of the installation. Our vision is for the installation to be a walled space that uses projection mapping to transform the walls into screens. We plan to experiment with 2D and 3D visual generative software to create an animated artistic representation of hyphae growth.
Above: Sketch of Interactive Installation Space for Mycor[Rising] by Dominica Harrison, 2023
Fantastic Fungi | Directed by Louis Shwartzberg:
“The fact that we lack the language to communicate with nature does not impugn the concept that nature is intelligent. It speaks to our inadequacy for communication. If we don’t get our act together and come in commonality and understanding with organisms that sustain us today, not only will we destroy those organisms, but we will also destroy ourselves.”
Anna Spink in improvisation.
Watch this space! More R&D to come…
“Mycelia are sentient, when you walk over the earth, it knows you are there...”
As visual and performance artists, we are keen to research the interconnected relationship with nature through multidisciplinary artistic research. We are exploring different methods of human and interspecies interaction using mycelium networks as a starting point.
Fascinated by the sentient, communicative qualities, properties and processes of mycelium, we wish to apply our research findings to promote positive engagement in local and global communities. With a variety of multidisciplinary workshops and visual research through animation, drawing, printmaking and dance, we will explore how community connection can be encouraged, improved, stopped, or shifted in some way.
Our goal is to create an interactive installation that showcases the development of an underground fungal network and demonstrates how the presence of other organisms can impact this process in real-time.
Responding to Our Natural Environment: Hyphae growth exploration. I am here exploring initiation of movement from multiple points of the body - akin to the “tips” of hyphae filaments to initiate 3D growth/ expansion into mycelium through the earth.
Although - as a creature living above ground, in my case - I grow, weave and connect through air: grounded by earth!
Anna Spink in improvisation.
Above/ Right: ‘Mycelium Running’ by Paul Stamets
Above/ Left: ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ - by Bessel Van Der Kolk
About A(ki)N.
We are a multidisciplinary creative duo: Anna Spink and Dominica Harrison, known as A(ki)N. Our previous collaborative projects incorporated contemporary dance and multi-layered projected animation for live installation and film. We are now keen to experiment further with multi-sensory immersive theatre to create engaging, interactive experiences for audiences.
Anna is a contemporary dance artist with seven years of experience, specialising in improvisation and composition. Anna’s movement practice is inspired by promoting collaborative arts engagement as a mode of improving mental, physical and social wellbeing within communities. Anna’s particular dance interests are in movement improvisation. Fascinated by the limitless potential, intuition and sensitivity involved with improvised movement, Anna works this device both as a tool for research and within performance creations. Sharing and exchanging skills with specialists in different fields, Anna strongly believes that collaboration unlocks innovation.
Dominica is an award-winning artist with seven years of experience, specialising in animation, illustration, printmaking and design. Dominica’s work is particularly focused on the themes of nostalgia, belonging and ritual. Rather than looking at animation solely as a form of cinema, Dominica is interested in presenting her films in the art and design spaces, working in the middle between animation, art and installation. Dominica is driven by the idea that the meaning of art is formed by collective collaboration between the audience and the work. Her fascination as an artist is to create appropriate space for that collaboration to happen.
Working together on projects for the past five years, our creations have combined performance, dance, music, and animation practices to explore themes of communication, illusion, empathy, and interconnected relationships between physical and virtual realities. We are passionate about sharing the transcendent powers of animation, dance and the fusion of these two fields for audience immersion. We have previously showcased our performances both in the UK and internationally with our evolving performance installation Seek & Hide.
From our previous collaborations, we noticed how our combined skills and creativity compliment and inspire each other’s crafts. Since September 2022, we have now joined forces as a fresh creative duo with a keen interest to create work that invites conversation and community engagement surrounding social and ecological concerns.