More and more exhibition projects penetrate nature. Francesca Gavin, the curator of the London show at London’s Somerset House, believes the letters, chairs, and more are inspired by mycelium. The exhibition is called “Mushrooms: The Art, Design, and Future of Fungi”.
The works of 40 artists, designers, and musicians are divided into three themes – Mycophilia, Magic Mushrooms, and Futures Mushrooms, and presented in three halls. Showcases of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, rare drawings by Takashi Murakami, a British designer Sebastian Cox’s lampshade, Je Rim Lee’s burial suit are presented in the exhibition.
The main exhibit of the design is Tom Dixon’s custom-made prototype chair, which was grown from mycelium. The scenography by Pentagram plays on a Victorian scientific approach and a purely English passion for classification (Garry). Other everyday items, such as shoes and clothes, can also be seen in the exhibition. Particular attention is drawn to the so-called “mushroom” funeral costume. In it, the body of a deceased person, being underground, becomes “food” for mushrooms.
The central concept of this exhibition is the role of mushrooms in everyday lives. The museum’s curator says, “Without fungi, our ecosystem would not exist. They are part of the human microbiome itself”, making the Fungi the central object of the exhibition. The Fungi became a subject of metaphor and poetic inspiration. The works presented in the exhibition result from exploring the aesthetic possibilities of unusual living.
In the “Mushrooms: The Art, Design, and Future of Fungi”, the audience is demonstrated numerous art objects related to mushrooms. The mushroom plays a central subject of creative inspiration.
Works Cited
“Fantastic fungi: Exhibit explores mushroom art, future uses”. Youtube, uploaded by AP Archive, 2020, Web.
“A tour of Mushrooms: The Art, Design & Future of Fungi”. Youtube, uploaded by Somerset House, 2020, Web.
“MUSHROOMS: The Art, Design, and Future of Fungi”. Somerset House, Web.
Garry, Bethany. “Mushrooms: The Art, Design, and Future of Fungi”. The British Science Fiction Association, 2020. Web.