Fungi Narratives Ábhar Bunaithe ar Fhungas

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Fungi Narratives is a material and design project focusing on experimenting with fungi as an organic material, exploring the relationship of fungi properties combined with bioplastics. Findings and designs include amadou „leather“ accessories such as a face mask, embroidery, up-cycled fashion pieces and various paper-like materials based on fungi. The projects purpose is using abundant resources from nature to create materials with a possible positive sustainable impact on the future of design.

Dimensions & Packaging

All designs/products come in various shapes and sizes.The amadou face mask is 20cm in length and 11cm in width, made from the inner section „amadou“ of comes fomentarius fungus, with the straps made of wool. The paper collection comes in 25 different qualities, all made from both fomes fomentarius and Fomitopsis betulina fungus with an addition of water. They come in different sizes, the smallest being 13cm length 11cm width, the largest being 23cm length 18cm width.

Tags

fungi, sustainable design, material, sustainability, bioplastic, biodegradable

Production Technology

Fomes Fomentarius and Fomitopsis Betulina, Bioplastic. The bioplastic is compostable, we made it using plant based glycerin, agar agar and water. For paper making we only used fungi and water. For the up-cycled fashion we used techniques such as embroidery, knitting, beading and creating a filament for all elements. Furthermore editorial design of the book, letter pressing and hand binding the book. Film and Photography as well as post production of the material. Technical use: Adobe Programs.

Design Challenge

From the beginning our approach was not to interfere with the natural source and learn from it, letting it guide us through the process. The biopolymers we found were an ideal medium for complimenting the fungi. Working with natural materials that will eventually degrade presented many challenges. It required patience and a lot of time as the materials could not be forced. Understanding under which circumstances the biopolymers succeeded with the fungi and when they were incompatible was key.

Research

Fungi Narratives is an experimental material research project. The results are extracted fungi materials and biodegradable biopolymers used in implementations for fashion design techniques such as up-cycling and embroidery, accessory design and paper production. Research about the materials was conducted through the experiments and internet resources. Most interesting was the use of amadou inside the fungus that could be used as organic leather with limited negative environmental impact.

Inspiration

A walk in nature inspired working with fungi, our research showed a possibility to extract Fomes Fomentarius from nature without negatively impacting the ecosystem, as well as the potential of growing them artificially. We conducted over 100 experiments studying the fungi and combining them with bioplastics. The duality between the man-made and the natural was our main motivation driving the experiments, which can have a positive impact on the fields of sustainable product and fashion design.

Project Duration

The project started in November 2019 and ended in September 2020. All team members are students of the Design School Kolding (Denmark) MA Program "Design for Planet“, with backgrounds in communication and fashion design. The project was started as part of a 5 week material research course in the program and then developed further for presentation by the team in September 2020. The project will be exhibited at the Dutch Design Week 2020 in Eindhoven as part of the exhibition „Materialized“.

Operation Flow

Fomes fomentarius is found to have various properties, including medical ones. Amadou can have impact in the future of sustainable alternatives to leather. The project included harvesting the fungi, dissecting and experimenting in different directions. Adding biopolymers increased the possibilities of use for fungi and let us control the flexibility of the materials. User research showed curiosity and positive feedback upon look, surface feel,natural smell and wearability of the fungi material.

Patents

Copyrights belong to Antonia Fedder, Marianne Hansen, Sofia Fiorentino Sarrate and Mads Vindelev Jørgensen, 2020.

Image Credits

Image #1: Photographer Antonia Fedder, Stylists Sofia Fiorentino and Marianne Hansen, 2020.
Image #2: Photographer Antonia Fedder, 2020.
Image #3: Photographer Antonia Fedder, Styling Sofia Fiorentino and Marianne Hansen, 2020.
Image #4: Photographer Antonia Fedder,2020
Image #5: Photographer Antonia Fedder, 2020.