MYKOLOGICA I
from the series M&K – Metaphysik und Kunst (metaphysics & art)
OKK → 16th September until 09th of October
Exhibition opening 15th of September 7 pm
Opening times Thursday until Sunday from 4-8pm (and by appointment – see workshop-schedule)
Mykologica I – focuses in this exhibition on the aesthetic aspect of the mycelium. The fungus as a work of art, the mycelium as an artist. Shapes, colors, textures and abstractions are in the foreground. To awaken the senses for the mushroom is our intention. Also mushroom collectors from the surrounding area, who currently want to go on forays are invited to participate in our mushroom safaris for collecting and presenting, classifying and archiving.
The realm of fungi is enormous, both in the diversity of species (the various fungi) and their bizarre manifestations, and in the preservation of the diversity of the total biomass of the planet. The realm of mycelia is mysterious, in a, for the human eye invisible, underisrid network of mycelium hides the largest information and exchange network of the planet.
This is an exhibition and research project about the world and reality of mushrooms. The mycelium as an entity and ecological engine of forests. Symbiosis and exchange as a basic building block of ecological societies. What can we learn from the rhizomatic existence of fungi, as humans, as societies?
The exhibition will present artistic works, documentary material and an installation of real collected mushrooms. Inputs from photography, painting, drawings, design and science are combined and presented as an experimental work of artistic research in this exhibition.
Günter Miglanz, photographer from Trier, has created a considerable archive of native mushrooms of the Eifel region, which goes far beyond mere documentation. They are images that meet a high aesthetic standard and a very special connection and a great eye for the specimen.
Dasha Plesen, artist from Moscow, works and experiments with various mold mushrooms, mostly in petri dishes and thus grows complex works with many colors and shapes based on the composition of the different mycelia grown.
Elise Puddy, an artist from Ontario, works with the structures of fungi, which find their way into her entire body of work in an individual visual language. Both in photography and in the graphic works one recognizes her very own symbiosis with the mycelium.
Pablo Hermann, artist and project-initiator from Berlin, works with and about fungi and translates this artistic research into visual works and culinary experiments.
The supporting program will focus on a real mushroom exhibition, which will give us direct access to the local mushroom world. With workshops and contributions (including artist talks) we will approach the aesthetics of mushrooms through all the senses. Expertises and artistic-scientific research will also underpin this project with a theoretical backup.
The project is supported by:”Bundesverband Soziokultur” and the NEUSTART KULTUR project
(presented artwork: Ziegelroter Stielschleimpilz [Arcyria denudata] – from Günter Miglanz)