Maja Rudnicki
Dirt is My Politic
Installation
2025
Ceramic, Clay, Mycelium, Shibari Rope, Water, Recycled Electronics, Pump, Ultrasonic Atomizer, Fungal Scents.
Varying
An Installation of my thesis work, Dirt is My Politic. Several ceramic worms hang by red rope, while others linger on the ground or on pads of mycelium. Worms interact with each other through the exchanging of fluids, mingling of bodies, or singing of songs.
“On its face, the work is a worm sex party, accompanied by a somber song.Peeling back this initial layer reveals an onion of personal meaning and a dogma for continued existence, something that could only be found through a process of intuitive creation, world-building, and material exploration in reaction to the world and the loneliness around me. The work primarily occupies three conceptual spheres:1. Social insect-hood by way of marginalization through queerness, neurodivergence, and disability.2. A recognition of the marginalized self in the other, and the freak-joy found within this recognition.3. A preservation / survival through transformation.In making the work, I looked to thrive in my feelings of otherness, and refer to a concept of social insect-hood – examining the way ‘undesirable’ things such as insects and fungus are treated and reacted to. Since I was a child, I felt a strong connection to what others deemed disgusting and I looked explore the parallels between morality as determined by acceptability, and the social consequences of this marginalization. By embracing the socially grotesque I am able to shed the shame of otherness, and exist outside of purity politic. By accepting that for as long as society is built upon a foundation of social ideals, normality, and correctness, there will always be an ‘other’. Therefore I am able to extricate myself from the pressure surrounding my head. I imagine myself as a fungal worm, having become spore-gender, as we plunge delicate mycelial tentacles into oft-ignored spaces - interweaving with the coils of the Earth and creating a symbiotic oasis between freaks.The semiotics of the worm: the worm is a slippery pest, is pathetic, is invasive. The worm also plays a key role in decomposition and the renewal of life. I intentionally made the narrative of the transformation of the human-worm vague – an indeterminate progression, creating more a tangled rhizome than a binary experience, reflecting the nuance behind sifting through the self to discover a transitory trueness. Both caterpillars and ceramics undergo metamorphosis – extreme stress and chemistry allow them to transform, emerging forever changed. The work bids to create and preserve the ecstasy found in the relationships developed with other social insects. Electronics and interactivity provide a temporary aliveness, though ultimately, the work is a way to imprint this delicate freak-joy into the archaeological record through material permanence. In a time of ever-increasing prejudice, hate, and erasure, I wanted to endeavor towards a kind of permanent survival. Vitrified ceramics imply a naturalness, a history, and a fragility – they are one of the few ways we are able to discover records of the past – through borrowing the language of ceramic, I am able to position the work in the same domain as artifact and as a means of storytelling for the future. It is my utmost hope that the work is left in the strata – burrowing safely to, one day, potentially be uncovered. Image List: 1. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - Spit Fountain & ProcessionMedium: Ceramic, Pump & Recycled Electronics, Water, Soil, Fungal Scents.Dimensions: Approx. 3' x 3' x 3'.2. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - Wet BreatherMedium: Ceramic, Ultrasonic Atomizer & Recycled Electronics, Mycelium & Substrate. Dimensions: Approx. 2' x 2' x 1'3. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - Lover / DanglerMedium: Ceramic, Shibari Rope. Dimensions: Approx. 0.5' x 2' x 0.5'4. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - SpitterMedium: Bisqueware Ceramic, Shibari Rope, Water.Dimensions: Approx. 0.75' x 0.5' x 1.5'5. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - CatcherMedium: Bisqueware Ceramic, Water. Dimensions: Approx. 0.5' x 2' x 1'6. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - Self Suck Centipede & SurvivorMedium: Ceramic.Dimensions: Approx. 1' x 0.5' x 1'7. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - SingerMedium: Ceramic, Mycelium TilesDimensions: Approx. 1' x 1' 0.5'8. Dirt is My Politic Installation - Detail - Crawler & VoyeurMedium: Ceramic, Raw Clay, Mycelium TileDimensions: Approx. 0.25' x 1' x 0.5'9. Dirt is My Politic - Installation - Panoramic View10. Dirt is My Politic à la Bespoke Worm Rave - Video containing documentation and audio component of installation.”
Work by
Maja Rudnicki aka. mush
Sculpture
“In the dying embers of an empire, a log is flipped over - revealing a wormy sex party. They writhe in an ecstasy of fungal detritus and demonstrate the symbiotic relationships found in shared...” [More]