The Polyfungal Maypole
2025
Co-designed, co-produced, and co-created in part with Studio: M.E.S.S.S.Y
An installation that combines fungal ways of being, entanglement, fairy rings, and polyphonic soundscapes
Participants become a fruiting body of the fungi and are guided through an experience where they work together to harmonize with the soundscape. The mushrooms work collaboratively through play, ritual, body movement, sound and the physical connection of the pipes pulling them into close listening and connection. They play instruments and respond to rhythm for movement. The mycelium - the hose pipes - carry these sounds physically, and the soundscape and meditation play digitally. The voice carries the group through a practice of deep listening, and teaches our guests about the entangling of all life as they play. The literal entangling of the maypole fungal web pays homage to our ecological symbiosis, with ourselves and the living earth.
