Mycelial Meshworks
Three Exercises: Script, Hand, Mould
We posited the maps as a rational form of mycelia since the process of mapping revealed hidden aspects of reality. We then curated a ‘mapping the maps’ series to explore how three different agents (computer algorithm, unbiased human, OTH life forms) would react to the same base maps, connecting them graphically through an automated, reactive mycelial meshwork. By exploring the growth of three distinct meshworks based on the unbiased reactions to the graphic components of the initial maps on the part of three very different agents (script, hand, mould), the aim is to expand mapping practices through a mycelial approach, enacting mechanisms of accidentality, plurality and visual (dis)order. We are interested in studying how multiagent interactions can be detected in the unintentional connections between ideas and mapped phenomena by harnessing randomness and immediacy. The resulting ‘mycelial mapping’ explores accidents as opportunities, in which iterative (computer, human, and fungal growth) protocols and chance-based graphic relationships potentially open new avenues for critical design action. What type of actions will these new maps allow us to conceive?
Idea and implementation: Manuela Valtchanova and Roger Paez
Collaborations: Michelle Bezik, Caterina Paez i Bunning, and anonymous life forms
Exhibited in Melbourne Design Week 2024 and Barcelona Design Week 2024