LIVE: Watch mushrooms blooming on Minga Opazo’s textile sculptures. Fungi, art, & science collide.

Описание: Watch in real time as mycelium (mushrooms) break down everyday recycled fabrics.

Featured here are two sculptures from textile artist Minga Opazo whose work explores the intersection of fashion, textiles, and science. Working exclusively with textile waste, Minga began to investigate solutions and came across mycoremediation.

Mycoremediation is “a form of bioremediation in which fungi is used to degrade or isolate contaminants in soil. Mycoremediation can be used in soil that is contaminated with petroleum or diesel oil.” ("Mycoremediation." University of Washington. Accessed February 5, 2025.).

Minga began applying mycelium (the root-like structure of fungi) to her textile waste sculptures as well as layering mycelium-coated fabric with layers of dirt to discover the viability of fungi consuming textile waste.

In 2018, it was estimated that 11.3 million tons of textile waste was generated and sent to landfills ("Textiles: Material-Specific Data." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified November 2024. Accessed February 5, 2025.) and it’s estimated that a garment is sent to the landfill after only 7-8 uses (Remy, Nathalie, Eveline Speelman, and Steven Swartz. "Style That's Sustainable: A New Fast-Fashion Formula." McKinsey & Company, October 20, 2016. Accessed February 5, 2025.).

This livestream is part of a larger documentary project featuring Minga’s work and the science behind mycoremediation. Watch along to see how the sculptures grow.

Donations can be made to support the documentary via the project’s fiscal sponsor E2AC https://donate.mazloweb.com/donate/FUDWqL3...