Marianne Moore

I took two of the mycelium experiments out of the molds but it seems it didn't really work out. The top of the mold seems to have grown somewhat, but the bottom part that got the least amount of air hadn't formed any mycelium at all. I think maybe they didn't have enough air flow so I stuffed as much as I could back into the dome mold and only wrapped it lightly and unwrapped the fish mold more and put them back under the sink in my bathroom. I wont have time to take them out of the mold before assessments but it will be good to know if that was the problem. Another possibility is that the hemp was not sterile enough for the mushrooms to eat it, though it did grow a little bit so it'shard to tell.

I got some photos and videos of the finalized cube in the photography studio. Paul helped me by taking the videos while I spun the layers without getting anyone's hands in the frame. I then edited the brightness and contrast to make the cube appear as if it were floating.

I glued the last block to the other 2 today so that I can confidently move it upstairs tomorrow. I remembered to get a photo of the adhesive for documentation as well.

I checked the mold this morning and it's really coming along. It's not quite ready, but you can see the mycelium growing over the sides of the mold.

With all the blocks dried I tested them out with the lazy susans and it works really well. It drifts a little bit but we'll have to see how it turns out when its properly centered

I got a photo of all my work in one spot, excluding the 3 blocks which are still in the plaster room. It seems both like a lot of work and not much at the same time due to the scale of it. It's really jarring to see all my pieces together in one spot as I'm so used to everything being separate.

I took some close up and dynamic shots of the fish after the smoke fire with the help of Paul.

This morning Brendan and I unloaded the put fired pieces. My tiles came out extremely varied and I am so happy with them.

We were tasked to set up a small exhibition for a presentation including a piece we've made, an A1 drawing, and an A3 photograph all relating to the object. I chose the hempcrete fish, then edited a photo to have some textured tiles layered over top of it. I set it up in size from large to small. I feel that this layout draws the eye down towards the sculpture.

We started a second smoke firing this morning and I put in the rest of my tiles and my fish.

I got the second block out of the mold and the third one started. Hopefully putting them in the heating closet will get them dried enough in time to stack them and get them spinning.

I checked on the molds today and after only about 2 days its started to grow mycelium! It's a little difficult to see through the plastic, but the white areas are mycelium. This project has been a lesson in patience. It's so difficult not to just rip the plastic off and take it out even though I know it's not even close to finished. I'm equal parts excited and anxious about the results of each experiment. I haven't had a whole lot of successes but I have been learning a lot, mostly that things take time, and if I want to create sustainably I need to accept that and plan accordingly.

I went to the Hunt Museum on Friday to check out the second year painting students exhibit and there was some really interesting use of texture in some of the works. One student utilized a doily on the canvas and painted an older woman over the lace. I feel the added texture brings a sense of sentimentality. Another artist used thick paint to convey trees, sky, and smoke making textured pieces reminiscent of expressionist paintings. One artist ripped up their canvas and incorporated paper and other surfaces into a portrait, even adding a single real flower hanging on the cheek. Another used a broken mirror to mosaic a portrait that reminds me of a statue of a religious figure, possibly Mary. The broken mirror pieces evoke a strong message, and the use of religious imagery adds an extra layer this being a possibly deeply personal piece.

I brought in the boiled hemp and mushroom growing kit in order to mik them in a sterilized environment. I cleaned every surface, including the gloves, with alcohol before mixing half of the mushroom kit with some of the hemp. I filled the dome and fish mold and still had left over so I got a third, smaller rectangular mold from Chris so as not to waste anything. I then closed and taped the fish mold and wrapped everything in clingfilm. I'll bring the molds home and leave them in my bathroom for around 5-7 days as they need a damp, dark, warm environment. I will poke a hole in the side of the film when I get home to allow a little bit of air flow.

In order to get the mycelium right, everything has to be sterilized so I woke up early this morning to boil the hemp I plan to mix with it. It will need to be damp when its mixed, so the process kills two birds with one stone by both sterilizing and hydrating it.

We were tasked to create an A1 drawing for a showcase of our work next Tuesday. I wanted to incorporate Glen Martin Taylor's work so I laid out my tiles and traced around them to get the raw shape. I then connected them using various lines and sketched the fish very lightly over the top.