I noticed in Crafts Council’s email that they have interviewed Maurizio Montalti, who works with bio-technology and fungi. Though he has different aims for it than me it was still interesting to read about why he is interested in their potential as “a replacement for traditional synthetic polymers.”
He says: “Living systems and organisms have long been fascinating me, particularly due to their ability of morphing through different material states while fulfilling tasks, such as transforming matter through processes of decomposition and degradation, as in the case of fungal organisms and their mycelia.”
The mycologist Paul Stamets also talks about the ability of mycelia to transform matter, such as toxic waste, into less harmful substances.
His practice is known as Oficina Corpuscoli, and projects with mycelia have diverse outcomes as plastic replacements, jewellery that questions the timescale of manufacturing processes and a shroud that aims to provoke people to be more realistic about death and new life rather than hiding it.
