(un)common threads
Ectomycorrhizas of a species of Cortinarius (webcap) in roots of oak. Photograph by Dr Laura M. Suz
Fungal hyphae -Xerocomellus pruinatus Photograph by Dr Laura Suz
About This Project
(un)common threads is running from Friday 3 October to Sunday 12 October at the London National Park City Visitor Centre (Oxford Street).
The installation is kindly funded by The British Mycologcal Society Massee Arts Grant and is the centrepiece of
Fungi Festival Week, a city-wide celebration of all things fungal curated by London National Park City in
partnership with Fat Fox Mushrooms and the London Fungus Network.
(un)common threads features stunning microscope images of fungal structures
by Dr. Laura Suz (Senior Research Leader in Mycology at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), is accompanied
by an original soundscape by artist Lez Kosanke, and built in collaboration with Benji Bailes (Bailes+Light)
Visitors of all ages are welcome to visit, interact and to contribute to a collaborative, evolving artwork.
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The journey to creating (un)common threads started in late 2023 when I attended a talk hosted by the South London Botanical Institute titled Ancient Associations: Mycorrhizas in Changing Forests with Dr. Laura M. Suz.
What struck me was how Laura’s research drew a clear thread between air pollution, biodiversity loss and predicted consequences of reduced forest resilience and soil carbon sequestration. It was a bit of a lightbulb moment; I knew these things were both ‘bad’; but here was someone illustrating a link between nitrogen pollution from industry and the climate crisis.
And of course there are many more connections between elements of these complex, often invisible systems- some good, some bad and nearly all needing more research to be done.
As well as the eye opening research, what caught my attention and set my imagining whirring was the beautiful photographs Dr Laura Suz had taken of the mycorrhizal speicmens she and her team were studying. The images of fungal hyphae and rhizomorphs around the root hairs of their host tree are taken through a microscope with a black background instead of the standard white.
(un)common threads is a collaboration between myself, creative technologist Benji Bailes, and urban mushroom lab Fat Fox Mushrooms with full support from Laura to bring this important research to a wider audience. As well as communicating what is an alarming story we are also celebrating fungal diversity, highlighting its ecological importance and sharing examples where ecosystems restoration is working.
