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Sketchbook for the project Running with Mycelium 2020
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 2020
Artist: Mariana Heilmann
Dimensions:
210 × 150 mm (21 × 15 cm)
Medium: wire spiral bound brown kraft paper sketchbook -51 pages Each page painted with white gesso and black acrylic paint – drawings made using acrylic ink and/ or white pencil.
Object number: MISC.2020.107.CC
DescriptionSketchbook from the project Running with Mycelium.
This sketchbook is part of my MA Art and Science degree project – Running With Mycelium 2020
• Project
The starting point for Running With Mycelium 2020 was my interest in mushroom mycelium and its interconnective forms of existence. In trying to learn more about mycelium, I entered the vast and complex kingdom of fungi for which there are no obvious roadmaps. In need of some clarity and an overview, I dedicated my degree project to creating a dynamic platform of enquiry where I could use practical, artistic and academic methods to generate a living project in which I could learn about mycelium. The project is ongoing. As I acquire layers of knowledge about this kingdom through academic and artistic research, the mycelium in the growth boxes grows, the blackboard walls on which I map out what I learn are transformed, and my understanding of these mysterious organisms deepens.
• Sketch book purpose
This sketch book was intended to be a space where I could become familiar with fungal morphology and physiology through copying existing scientific diagrams. At first, I was groping in the dark and chose the diagrams to copy quite randomly. Gradually I created some clarity by zooming out and studying the way that the phylogenetic tree of fungi is mapped. I then narrowed my focus and homed in on one of the main five phyla of the fungal kingdom… the Basidiomycota. The subsequent choice of diagrams and information is specific to this phyla, and progressively moves towards one of the fungal species that I am growing in my installation – Pleurotus ostreatus (Pearl Oyster).
• Diagrams
Scientific diagrams and botanical drawings have a great appeal to me…I like how something complex can be simplified and laid out in a clear and comprehensible way.
• Visual language
The visual language that I have developed in this sketch book references the blackboards of the installation (which in turn reference a space of investigation and learning). In addition, the choice of kraft paper is an expression of my objective to work within spaces that are to do with process rather than end products.
This sketchbook became an important tool and companion…it allowed me to distil, record and order information as well as experiment and develop a visual language and way of working that has triggered new projects and objectives.
Video link- Running With Mycelium 2020:Phases I & II – https://youtu.be/gWM8NFIHcec
Graduate showcase - https://graduateshowcase.arts.ac.uk/collection/60
Interview - https://www.gowithyamo.com/blog/central-saint-martins-degree-shows-2020
Website - https://marianaheilmann.com
This sketchbook is part of my MA Art and Science degree project – Running With Mycelium 2020
• Project
The starting point for Running With Mycelium 2020 was my interest in mushroom mycelium and its interconnective forms of existence. In trying to learn more about mycelium, I entered the vast and complex kingdom of fungi for which there are no obvious roadmaps. In need of some clarity and an overview, I dedicated my degree project to creating a dynamic platform of enquiry where I could use practical, artistic and academic methods to generate a living project in which I could learn about mycelium. The project is ongoing. As I acquire layers of knowledge about this kingdom through academic and artistic research, the mycelium in the growth boxes grows, the blackboard walls on which I map out what I learn are transformed, and my understanding of these mysterious organisms deepens.
• Sketch book purpose
This sketch book was intended to be a space where I could become familiar with fungal morphology and physiology through copying existing scientific diagrams. At first, I was groping in the dark and chose the diagrams to copy quite randomly. Gradually I created some clarity by zooming out and studying the way that the phylogenetic tree of fungi is mapped. I then narrowed my focus and homed in on one of the main five phyla of the fungal kingdom… the Basidiomycota. The subsequent choice of diagrams and information is specific to this phyla, and progressively moves towards one of the fungal species that I am growing in my installation – Pleurotus ostreatus (Pearl Oyster).
• Diagrams
Scientific diagrams and botanical drawings have a great appeal to me…I like how something complex can be simplified and laid out in a clear and comprehensible way.
• Visual language
The visual language that I have developed in this sketch book references the blackboards of the installation (which in turn reference a space of investigation and learning). In addition, the choice of kraft paper is an expression of my objective to work within spaces that are to do with process rather than end products.
This sketchbook became an important tool and companion…it allowed me to distil, record and order information as well as experiment and develop a visual language and way of working that has triggered new projects and objectives.
Video link- Running With Mycelium 2020:Phases I & II – https://youtu.be/gWM8NFIHcec
Graduate showcase - https://graduateshowcase.arts.ac.uk/collection/60
Interview - https://www.gowithyamo.com/blog/central-saint-martins-degree-shows-2020
Website - https://marianaheilmann.com