The Fungi Song - Science Class Heroes (Biology Project)
Take a look at The Fungi Song - a great piece of music and video composed by Sean Meier all about fungi .
And if that inspires you read about the fungi that play music - from Vaclav Halek who has composed over 2000 melodies inspired by edible fungi.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1271606,00.html
Aspergillus becomes a top subject for artist and sculpture Fiona Hepburn. Fiona has used various screen printing techniques to design her amazing sculptures based on Aspergillus fumigatus. Quote froom her " The final images I produce are one-off pieces, made up of thousands of multiples. Each tiny 'spore' is printed using hand drawn stencils exposed on to a screen. The screenprinted spores are printed on to fragile Japanese paper. I reproduce the spores until I have thousands of them, often in variations of colours and tones. Each tiny 'spore' is hand cut with a scalpel and attached to a pin. I construct the work by pushing these pins in to a background image either made through screenprint or woodcut. It allows me to control the growth of the image, allowing for different parts of the image to be seen at different levels. Making the work is like watching the cells of growing mould multiply.
Plant material such as marijuana is an excellent food source for fungi such as Aspergillus. Once cut the material must be dried rapidly and consistently to a very low moisture level to avoid it becoming mouldy. Once dried it must be stored in completely dry conditions to prevent it becoming damp and once again quickly becoming mouldy.
Storing marijuana or any other plant material in small sealed containers or wrapped in plastic will only help if the material is completely dry in the first place, otherwise you are effectively locking the mould in with its own supply of food and water whereupon it will flourish. Mould does not need light or much heat to grow.
Competition shortlist21st June
The judges have been studying all the entries and have now drawn up their shortlist. To view the shortlist click here. There were hundreds of entries of a very high standard and many were inspirational. We would like to congratulate all entrants on achieving such a high standard. Well done to all those who were shortlisted - and you will receive an email inviting you to bring your artwork for the final judging. Shortlisted entries will be exhibited at the Manchester Science Festival at the end of October.
The judges have been studying all the entries and have now drawn up their shortlist. To view the shortlist click here. There were hundreds of entries of a very high standard and many were inspirational. We would like to congratulate all entrants on achieving such a high standard. Well done to all those who were shortlisted - and you will receive an email inviting you to bring your artwork for the final judging. Shortlisted entries will be exhibited at the Manchester Science Festival at the end of October.
One of our judges Bob Devereux has been creative: