sommeMycocene
E. Forgues, 2018
Mycocene is a speculative future. It symbolizes a transition away from the Anthropocene towards a future where our current use of technology is composted into one that has symbiosis in mind.
Symbiosis within Mycocene blurs the line between conventional technology and nature. It explores uses of technology that do not attempt to save nor exploit our ecosystems, but augment and communicate with them.
Myco, the root for Mycelium, is the communication highway between species. It is an integral link within ecosystems, functioning like an Internet of nutrients. In the spirit of this metaphor, the Mycocene project repurposes electronic waste to be in symbiosis with this highly advanced natural system of mycelium–foregrounding the immense intelligence that nature exhibits which, as a species, we (humans) choose to ignore.
Artists Presentation at the International Marketplace for Digital Art (MIAN)
June 14, 2019 between 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.
Open Studio at OBORO as part of the ELEKTRA Festival
From June 12 to 15, noon to 5 p.m.
In partnership with Caisse Desjardins du Plateau-Mont-Royal and Elektra
The somme collective received the New Media Creation Grant Caisse Desjardins du Plateau-Mont-Royal, offered through a partnership between OBORO and the Caisse Desjardins du Plateau-Mont-Royal. The Physarum used in Mycocene was grown in the Speculative Life BioLab, a hybrid research-creation laboratory that is part of the Milieux Institute for Art, Technology and Culture at Concordia University, Montreal. This project was funded by Concordia’s Fine Arts Student Alliance & Concordia’s Student Union.
E. Forgues, 2018
The collective somme is a collaboration between Emma Forgues, Sam Bourgault, Owen Coolidge, Matthew Halpenny and Matthew Salaciak. They began working together during their degree in Computation Arts at Concordia University, sharing similar points of view but various skills among the group. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they conjugate programming, sound, visual arts, electronics, music, physics, and biology in their collaborative art practice.
