ARMET

Description

Fungical Language is a device that evokes the aesthetics of "biomedia": the organism as presentation. This piece presents a fungus connected to electrodes which in turn are connected to some hardware. This combination allows words or phrases to appear on a screen. In short, the installation proposes a way of seeing things in which the electrical vibrations of fungus can be translated into human semiotics. Subjectively, the piece encourages us to be aware of environmental disturbances: the presence of visitors, heat and light. Fungical Language speculates on the hypothesis that the mycelium communicates the limits of language in humans and non-humans. In a society where we are beginning to understand the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence, we need to look more closely than ever at "plant neurobiology". Through electronics and sensors, frequencies will be transformed into "human" words or phrases that can be seen on a monitor or heard through loudspeakers.

Process

nfluenced by Urbonas Studio's Mushroom Power Plat (2019) or Marti Howse's Radio Mycelium (2021). My piece features a fungus ( Omphalotus Nidformis ) connected to electrodes which are in turn connected to hardware. Inspired by Andrew Adamatzky's article “Language of fungi derived from their electrical spiking activity” (2022), this combination allows words or phrases to appear on a screen. In a society where we are beginning to understand the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence, we need more than ever to look at “plant neurobiology”.The piece does not feature plants as such. Mycelium has the particularity of reinterrogating our modes of relationship and our perception of what the Internet is. If we don't believe that organisms are mere ornaments, their dismountable construction is a typical example of modernity: of a collaborative architecture distributed in different ways with a strong resistance to problems. We've just realized that the use of artificial intelligence has an impact on the ecosystem: the presence of carbon, which implies warming. It's an investigation into how we should present biological data and show the link between mycelium, energy and the ecology of organisms.

Tools

1) For Fungal culture I used a species named Omphalotus nidiformis under culture conditions ( Sterile substrate (sawdust + nutrients), Humidity control (between 80 and 95%), Regulated temperature (20-25 °C), Photoperiod control (partial darkness or indirect light). With a Built-in devices ( Aeration controller for air renewal (controlled ventilation) (PM2.5 Sensor - PMS5003, MP503, MQ-131, DHT22 Temp & Hum Sensor, DS3231 RTC, Oxygen sensor/monitor to maintain optimal O₂ levels for fungal metabolism ( CO2 Sensor - MH-Z19, Arduino Pro Mini) 2) For Bioelectrical data acquisition, i use some some sensors (Microelectrodes inserted into mycelium or placed on surface (needle in black, ADS1115 ADC) and Hardware interface: Signal amplifier (for biological micro-voltages) , ESP32-type microcontroller, high-sensitivity ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) compatible, Hardware filtering for electrical noise reduction ( arduino code) and Recorded signal type (Bioelectric potential fluctuations and "Spikes" or impulses similar to neural signals). 3) For Artificial intelligence model training Data corpus some extracts from scientific publications on fungal signals are including as Adamatzky, Andrew (2022). “Language of fungi derived from their electrical spiking activity". Then an an initial treatment (RNN or LSTM ty) based of an extraction of classifiable electrical patterns and Vectorization of electrophysiological sequences visible on Monitors ( 16x2 I2C LCD).