
New Nature VR +Art

Everyone knows fungi from mouldy bread and decomposing trees, but few people are aware that fungi are also the perfect material that can be cultivated for use towards sustainable substitutes for traditional and oftentimes environmentally unfriendly products.
In this workshop artist Tosca Terán will introduce participants to the fantastic potential of mycelium for collaboration at the intersection of art and science. Participants will learn how to cultivate mycelium affordably towards use as a bio-material and/or food. Participants will be introduced to sterile and non-sterile techniques, suggestions and inspirations for working with various armatures (3D printed, hand-knit/crocheted, wood structures, etc), as well as sculpting and forming with mycelium as a demonstration. Mycelium can be used in industrial design, art, fashion, architecture – the possibilities are seemingly endless!
Check out Tosca’s Mycelium Martian Dome project, an installation that took place in 2019 through a residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) in partnership with the Ontario Science Centre and the Primordia immersive installation that won the Jury Award at The Gladstone’s Grow-Op 2019.
Sunday, October 18, 2020
1pm-4pm
Online via Zoom – Register here!
Registration: This workshop is PWYC ($20 suggested donation). Please note that the fee can be waived if it is a financial barrier to participation. Send an email to education@interaccess.org and we will manually register you to the workshop. You will receive an email with a Zoom event link a few days prior to the workshop. Contact education@interaccess.org for any questions.
Materials required:
Multi-species entanglements: Forming with Mycelium • working with environmentally friendly, renewable materials online and it is PWYC! (scroll down for ticket link)
During this workshop, Tosca Terán introduces participants to the amazing potential of mycelium for collaboration at the intersection of art, science and technology.
Participants learn how to transform their kitchens and closets into safe, mini-Mycelium Biolabs, learn how to cultivate mycelium, and leave the workshop with a live Mycelium planter/bowl form*, as well as a wide array of possibilities of how they might work with this sustainable bio-material.
Mycelium can be used in industrial design, art, architecture – the possibilities are seemingly endless! Check out the Mycelium Martian Dome project, an installation that took place in 2019 through a residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto in partnership with the Ontario Science Centre. NASA Ames Research Centre will cite this artist’s vision/public installation in Phase II in their research towards fungi based building/insulating materials.
Mycelium= the mass of interwoven filamentous hyphae that forms especially the vegetative portion of the thallus of a fungus and is often submerged in another body (as of soil or organic matter or the tissues of a host) aka mushroom roots
*How the online workshops roll:
Metal + Glass 4-week course Starts up TBA – 8 evenings. Tuesday & Thursday 6:30-9:30pm $285/pp – limited seats!
evening #1: First evening: working with copper: safety, drilling, sawing. Adding textures.
evening #2: Making a ring band out of silver (stamp, hammer finish, roller print, etc.)
evening #3: Working with wax create a small piece w/the lost wax technique- to be cast in Sterling silver or brass (off-site).
evening #4: Finishing wax projects, Lo-tech casting with Cuttlefish bone.
evening #5: Fold-forming
evening #6: Enameling copper projects, forming, how to make your own basic findings.
evening #7: Bezel settings cabochon stones or fossils or crystals, or an enameled glass piece.
evening #8: Finish up projects No experience necessary!
Copper, wax, glass, and some sterling silver are supplied*. A list of local suppliers is included. Questions concerning this course? Please see our FAQ’s
What’s included:
Approx 4×5” piece of copper sheet, 2’ copper wire, sterling silver for 1 ring band, fine silver bezel wire to set 1 cabochon-cut stone, silver solder to complete class projects, wax, 10 grams of sterling silver for cuttlebone casting, powdered vitreous enamel, 1 doz saw blades, 1 1mm drill bit, 1 half-face particulate respirator, nitrile gloves, refractory materials for casting molds. Students are encouraged to supply their own cabochon cut stones, crystals, rocks, etc.
Additional materials not included: cabochon cut stone(s), extra sterling silver grain for lost wax castings, sterling silver sheet/plate for setting stones on/constructing other pieces. Sterling silver casting grain may be purchased at $2.50gram.
Multi-species entanglements: Forming with Mycelium • working with environmentally friendly, renewable materials
During this workshop, Tosca Terán introduces participants to the amazing potential of mycelium for collaboration at the intersection of art and science. Participants learn how to transform their kitchens and closets into safe, mini-Mycelium Biolabs, learn how to cultivate mycelium, and leave the workshop with a live Mycelium planter/bowl form, as well as a wide array of possibilities of how they might work with this sustainable bio-material. All materials are provided.
Workshop includes:
1 round planter growth form
1 bag of substrate inoculated with Mycelium
Nitrile gloves
Particulate mask
Instructions
This workshop includes everything you need to grow a round planter, as well as hand-sculpt a small form plus, a full bag of substrate inoculated with mycelium! Suggestions on how to grow other forms or grow onto various armatures (3D printed, hand-knit/crocheted, wood structures, etc) will be discussed.
Mycelium can be used in industrial design, art, architecture – the possibilities are seemingly endless! Check out the Mycelium Martian Dome project, an installation that took place in 2019 through a residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto in partnership with the Ontario Science Centre.
Mycelium= the mass of interwoven filamentous hyphae that forms especially the vegetative portion of the thallus of a fungus and is often submerged in another body (as of soil or organic matter or the tissues of a host) aka mushroom roots
Artist-instructor Tosca Teran works with Mycelium collaboratively –
creating the Midnight Mushroom Music Podcast.
Tosca Teran will lead a workshop on how to build customized touchpads that can trigger sounds, samples, and sequencers, collect bio-data, be used with analog or digital synthesizers, and so much more. With this device, you can start listening to your BioData!
Create your own custom touchpads and you will be able to:
– Use with your analogue or digital synth
– Trigger sounds/samples
– Trigger sequences
– Control a robot
– Collect bio-data
– Use with Unity and more!
Participants will learn how to design and etch customized touchpads using their own hand-drawn and digitally created images. While designs are etching we will discuss and design the circuitry to be included on our touchpads! Participants will start with simple on/off touchpads and move into a multi-touch and slide-touch touchpad.
This workshop takes place at InterAccess.org
Mapping with Slime Mould • Sunday, March 22nd 1pm-4pm $50/pp
During this workshop, Tosca Terán introduces the potential of slime mould for collaboration at the intersection of art and science. Participants learn how to transform their kitchens and closets into safe, mini-Physarum Biolabs and leave the workshop with a feeding and growing kit, their own Slime mould, as well as a wide array of possibilities of slime mould (Physarum polycephalum*) culturing. The workshop invites participants to experiment with different biological media and feeding substrates, reflecting on how they inform the growth and morphology of protozoans and protists.
*Physarum polycephalum is a yellow ameboid dweller of decaying logs and decomposing vegetation on dim forest floors. It made headlines when Japanese biologists demonstrated its uncanny ability to optimize paths through mazes and reproduce tracks between mapped Tokyo railway stations. Since then, slime mould has become an attractive living substrate for research in diverse areas such as mathematical modelling, computation and bio-art.
This workshop takes place at co:Lab
Link: https://soundcloud.com/nanotopia/episode-3-special-guest-physarum-polycephalum
Bio-Art related workshops taking place at co:Lab|nanopod studio scheduled into March 2020.
Mycelium Bio-Materials
Bio-Sonification Modules
Physarum non-human encounters
We’ve had an overwhelming response to our Mycelium Bio-Materials workshops so, we’ve added a special Thursday evening workshop! Thursday, January 23rd 6:30 to 9:30pm
Only 5 seats remain – register soon via the button below!
Multi-species entanglements: Forming with Mycelium • working with environmentally friendly, renewable materials
New date added for January, 26th 2020
During this workshop, Tosca Terán introduces participants to the amazing potential of mycelium for collaboration at the intersection of art and science. Participants learn how to transform their kitchens and closets into safe, mini-Mycelium Biolabs, learn how to cultivate mycelium, and leave the workshop with a live Mycelium planter/bowl form, as well as a wide array of possibilities of how they might work with this sustainable bio-material. All materials are provided.
Workshop includes:
1 round planter growth form
1 bag of substrate inoculated with Mycelium
Sculpting mix
Nitrile gloves
Particulate mask
Instructions
This workshop includes everything you need to grow a round planter, as well as hand-sculpt a small form plus, a full bag of substrate inoculated with mycelium! Suggestions on how to grow other forms or grow onto various armatures (3D printed, hand-knit/crocheted, wood structures, etc) will be discussed.
Mycelium can be used in industrial design, art, architecture – the possibilities are seemingly endless!
Mycelium= the mass of interwoven filamentous hyphae that forms especially the vegetative portion of the thallus of a fungus and is often submerged in another body (as of soil or organic matter or the tissues of a host) aka mushroom roots
Artist-instructor Tosca Teran works with Mycelium collaboratively –
creating the Midnight Mushroom Music Podcast.
Holiday gift-giving!
Multi-species entanglements: Forming with Mycelium • working with environmentally friendly, renewable materials
December 5th at InterAccess
SOLD OUT Special workshop for the Fantastic Fungi Futures events taking place around the movie screening at HotDocs
Next Mycelium Bio-Materials workshop
is being planned for January 12, 2020
Workshop includes:
1 round planter growth form
1 bag of substrate inoculated with Mycelium
Sculpting mix
Nitrile gloves
Particulate mask
Instructions
This workshop includes everything you need to grow a round planter, as well as hand-sculpt a small form plus, a full bag of substrate inoculated with mycelium! Suggestions on how to grow other forms or grow onto various armatures (3D printed, hand-knit/crocheted, wood structures, etc) will be discussed.
Various mycelium can be used in industrial design, art, architecture – the possibilities are seemingly endless!
Mycelium= the mass of interwoven filamentous hyphae that forms especially the vegetative portion of the thallus of a fungus and is often submerged in another body (as of soil or organic matter or the tissues of a host) aka mushroom roots
Artist-instructor Tosca Teran works with Mycelium collaboratively –
creating the Midnight Mushroom Music Podcast.
This year (2019) Tosca and Andrei (together forming Nanotopia) are offering workshops making Bio-Sonification Modules out of their shared studio space, Interaccess.org, UofT and abroad.
Personal: www.toscateran.com
Tosca was recently interviewed by, Ecovative Designs. Check out the
interview here, https://ecovativedesign.com/blog/178
Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments called hyphae aka Mushroom roots.