BioMaterials (Medusomyces gisevii)
Challenge: Grow and explore the qualities of Medusomyces gisevii (commonly known as 'Tea Fungus' or 'Kombucha') .
Working with a living material takes time and care, one needs to find the perfect setting, temperatures and ratios of nutrients the organism requires. After a few weeks, once the material has grown thick enough to be harvested, it can be cut, shaped and sculpted into any desired form.
For my piece I decided to explore and test the 'self-heeling' qualities of the organism. I cut the flesh-like piece into thinner stripes and layered them in a line - in order to 'fuse' them into a belt. After a week of daily flipping (to avoid it sticking to the surface it was drying on) and massaging it with glycerine (to avoid wrinkles from the drying process & add flexibility) the pieces have combined into a beautiful long stripe of vegan leather, into which I could punch holes to create my final belt design.
Instructions:
Final Result:
