Nataly Kais

Mushroom for you

Mushroom for you was designed as an interactive installation that allows users to experience a sense of connection. With the compartmentalization of our communities, more people feel isolated and disconnected from one another. How might we enable people to grow stronger connections amongst one another and create unified communities?Due to COVID-19, the sculpture was never completed due to facility restrictions. The images you see are accurate 3D renders of what the final installation would have looked like.

““Mushroom for you” is an interactive installation encompassing ideas of mindfulness,connection and sustainability. The title refers to the space designated for the audience,the space between the installation itself and the ground. Without the audience, the pieceis incomplete; once the individual steps into the dome, they become the missing linkthat connects the installation to the ground and overall mimic the shape of a mushroom—surrounded by gill-like hanging pieces that replicate the inside of a mushroom cap.Every hanging piece is uniquely grown using accurately measured moulds, filled withlive material that takes the form of the mould over five days. I firmly decided to makesure that my installation is fully biodegradable and/or reusable, considering the work's lifespan beyond the gallery setting. I created this work using a biomaterial consistingof hemp chips and mycelium, the vegetative root of a fungus. During the nine-day growing period, the mycelium grows through the hemp and binds everythingtogether to become one solid piece.My main inspiration for this project is the kingdom of Fungi; I believe there is a vastamount of knowledge to be gained from looking into fungi and their role throughout the lifeof a forest. Fungi are the primary decomposers of our world; they recycle debris,creating more fertile soils in the process, continually producing life after death. Whileother types of fungi, specifically their mycelium, produce vast networks underground,which allow the entire forest to connect. It is the connection that bridges one tree to theother, allowing information to travel, plants and trees to communicate and overallsustain stronger and healthier forests.How can we, as a collective grow such a strong network amongst us? How can we formnetworks that will strengthen our relationships with one another, strengthen oursocieties and gain the meaningful connections we all desire?”