A series of studies combining computation, fashion, nature, organic and man made materials.
The pieces are first inspired by my fascination with cordyceps, a fungal parasite that attacks arthropods. Once infected, the fungus slowly takes control of the insect both mentally and physically. Before the insect dies, the fungus makes it climb high onto a branch and grip on, giving it an advantageous place to spread spores. Once the insect is dead, the cordyceps protrudes out, breaking through the exoskeleton. There are many species of cordyceps varying in size, shape an color. Most of these only attack one species of arthropod.
I wanted to express organic patterns/forms, nature and in particular the invasive characteristics of growth in certain organisms.
Process
Experiment 1: Actually growing something… Chia Test! I printed a voronoi substrate on a Makerbot with 0 infill and cancelled the print before it could cap off the object. This left me with channels where I could cultivate some chia seeds. The experiment started off looking great, but after a couple weeks the leaves filled in and the thick canopy lost all definition of the substrate form.
Experiment 2: Growth in Processing. I used the Toxiclibs library in Processing to import STL files and “grew” meshes off each other.
Result
Finally, my stab at a more polished wearable representation of my experimentation.
The large piece was created on a Makerbot Replicator 2 with live moss and the smaller head piece was made by Shapeways in white strong and flexible.
More pictures can be found on Flickr.
