Mycocamera

The mycocamera is a pinhole camera grown out of mycelium, with oyster mushrooms growing inside. A pinhole camera is a light-tight space that uses a small hole for the light to enter, instead of a lens. By putting light-sensitive paper inside the mycocamera, and letting the pinprick of light project onto photo paper, an image was created on the paper.
By growing mushrooms inside the camera, the shadow of the mushrooms will also be projected onto the paper, creating an image contaminated by mushrooms. This way, the mycocamera explores the idea of the contaminated image, hereby questioning the gaze.


We need to be aware of the limited and subjective perspective we have. It is important to keep questioning how and why we perceive, to keep us aware of this subjectivity and limitation.  We put our perspective onto our environment and see it as fact, withholding us from taking the care to think of how other beings might experience the environment, and taking into account their needs.  We need to see options of connectivity and a symbiotic relationship with the world around us.

Additionally, this also questions who the ‘artist’ really is, as there are many agencies taking part in the making of the image. There is the fungi, the photopaper, the light, the time, and the being controlling the shutter and putting the paper in.
Especially with the use of organisms for artistic purposes, it is important to stay aware of our anthropocentric gaze, as we cannot step out of our human perspective. We can, however, change our focus, and let ourselves accept contamination with the non-human, creating closer relations.