StrataSpore is a platform for collective knowledge about mushrooms.

09.2009

Field Note No. 1

“Scientists have discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on earth, an individual mightier than the blue whale, the giant sequoia tree or such past pretenders to size supremacy as the dinosaur.…the finding will force biologists to rethink their assumptions about what constitutes an individual, a fundamental problem in the study of the natural world and its ecosystems. Scientists normally view a single organism as something bound by a type of skin, whether of animal flesh or plant cellulose. But fungi grow as a network of cells and threadlike elements whose boundaries are not always clear.” (The New York Times April 2, 1992)

“It’s a limitation to be bound by the three dimensional body. So, reconfigure the three dimensional body into a cellular body — instead of thinking Deborah Hay, I think 384 trillion cells at once.”
- Deborah Hay

Field Note No. 2

Gary Lincoff speaking about fungi as the oldest living organism on the planet… Download MP3

Recorded at Mildred’s Lane, Beach Lake, PA – Sept. 7, 2009

Field Note No. 3

Why Should You Care about Mushrooms?

  1. Paul Stamets says they will save the world (he’s got them eating oil spills). Read his book Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Save the World and his presentation at TED Talks.
  2. John Cage thought mushroom hunting improved your ability to be present, observe and understand indeterminacy. (NY Times Article – Sounds and Mushrooms PDF)
  3. Allan Kaprow and John Cage met at the New School in Cage’s mushroom class.
  4. Mushroom growing media can be used as a sculptural material – insulation for buildings.
  5. Mushrooms taste good and can be found in the woods for free.
  6. When else is identification and visceral knowledge such a risky business for body and mind?

(List Compiled by Caroline Woolard)

Field Note No. 4

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Field Note No. 5

Above at the Middle – Rehearsal

Field Note No. 6

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Field Note No. 7

Walking Like forest


Find more videos like this on Strataspore

Field Note No. 8

Radical Mycology Zine

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Download the PDF











Field Note No. 9

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world

Field Note No. 10

Mushroom Halloween Flyer

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Field Note No. 11

Below at the Middle

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Field Note No. 12

A Family Portrait

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Field Note No. 13

The Wall Washers

Gary Lincoff, March 3rd, 2010 Listen (MP3)

Field Note No. 14

Below At the Middle (For below Washington Square Park)


I. Fenced off /Chopping up
II. Heating up /Breathing trees
III. Cooking/ Fountain
IV. Plating/Serving
(repeat in or out of order as necessary)
Performers: Yuko Mitsuishi, Jackie Dodd, Caroline Woolard, Monique Milleson, Shinohara Kensaku, Chrisopher Kennedy, Cassie Thorton, Athena Kokoronis, Juliette Marchina
Costumes: Leila Hekmat

Field Note No. 15

Above at the Middle


Conversations at the Flea StrataSpore dances