The MycoInsulation project involves insulating the big beautiful black barn at the Biotoop on Dijksgracht. To do this we are going to need many machines, which themselves can serve as part of a captivating exhibition to show the process of turning waste into insulation using mushrooms.
Our Exhibition Ambition & Inspiration
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The exhibition needs to show the entire process of panel production in a way that relates to the structure of the barn itself, but also in a way that makes the process both captivating and interactive. Of course the whole exhibition also needs to function as a working production line. These three ideas need to be balanced in order to create an effective exhibition. The black barn is now transforming from a dusty storage space into a brilliant events space, but when summer is over, we will need it to be insulated!
Our inspiration for the exhibition comes partly from the rocking knit chair and the low-tech exhibition at ECAL Lausanne, where simple actions produce simple results, in a very unsophisticated, raw and analogue way.
The tape Paris exhibition breathes an idea of weightlessness. The barn would be a great place for an exhibition in a style similar to this. The cross beams are strong and dominate the view inside the barn, so making use of them seems natural.
There are several stops in the production line of a mycelium insulated panel. Substrates have to be prepared, mixed, then sterilised, then taken to a clean lab where they are mixed with mycelium. They are then taken out of the clean lab and incubated, before being roasted to stop growth.
Brainstorming The Machines
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We also need to think about the production of spawn, which is extremely useful for quick and clean innoculation of substrate whilst also proving to grow faster than agar. This requires its own mixer, incubation area and storage.
This idea involves a gravity powered mycelium liquid culture stirrer. Visitors to the exhibiton can wind a wheel, which pulls a weight up to a wooden beam. The weight slowly descends, restricted by cogs and pendulums which enable it to slowly turn a liquid culture, allowing for quicker growth.
This idea for a clean lab is based on the afore-mentioned Paris Tape exhibition. Using simple plastic sheets hung over the beams in the roof, it breathes the same weightlessness whilst still functioning as a clean lab. Laminar flow can be achieved by blowing filtred air through the top of the structure, which is directed down onto the work surface.