Skip to content
Thesis Info
- LABS ID
- 00940
- Thesis Title
- Hybrid Matter
- Author
- Darya Warner
- E-mail
- daryawarner AT gmail.com
- 2nd Author
- 3rd Author
- Degree
- MFA
- Year
- 2020
- Number of Pages
- 52
- University
- University at Buffalo
- Thesis Supervisor
- Matt Kenyon
- Supervisor e-mail
- mkenyon AT buffalo.edu
- Other Supervisor(s)
- Paul Vanouse
- Language(s) of Thesis
- English
- Department / Discipline
- Fine Arts
- Copyright Ownership
- Darya Warner
- Languages Familiar to Author
- English, Russian
- URL where full thesis can be found
- www.academia.edu/43482105/Hybrid_Matter
- Keywords
- bioart, new matter, sustainable art practices
- Abstract: 200-500 words
- Hybrid Matter addresses sustainable art practices, concepts of de/industrialization, local additive manufacturing and the exploration of hybrid space through “intermatter” communications.
Hybrid Matter is visualized through long-term site-specific installations that address specific locations, their history, ecology, and possible future. These hybridized forms explore the relationship between order and chaos, living and nonliving through living sculpture.
The site is Buffalo China Factory, located in Buffalo, NY. The installation consists of 6 living sculptures, a laser projection and a MycoPrinter with the video presentation of the research conducted.
The living sculptures for this specific site were 3D printed with a MycoPrinter, an open-source 3D bioprinter that prints mycelium (underground part of the mushroom) substrate. Once printed, it is ready for inoculation with various types of fungi, thus combining additive manufacturing with fungi biological tissue to create a living sculpture.
The substrate was created from locally collected materials including clay from Buffalo China Factory. Coffee mugs obtained from the last sale of the factory before it was shut down were 3D scanned and then 3D printed with the MycoPrinter and seeded with mycelium.
The mycelium took over the shape of the cup, digesting the substrate and producing fruit bodies. After several weeks of growth, the 3D printed living sculptures started to deform since mycelium will extract resources from within itself to produce spores. By sculpting itself, the mycelium is actively participating in the creative process. Spores will then disseminate from the sculptures throughout the factory integrating themselves into the building. The creation of the larger living sculpture, a hybrid of the factory building, and mycelium that will last for decades is the final piece of the show. Through collaborative art practices based on the Biophilia Hypothesis, we can build a bridge between living /non-living matter and humans and shift our worldview towards greener cultures based on care.