What is it like to live, sense, and feel as a mushroom? To begin to dissect this question, we must first approach the idea of consciousness and understand that to truly embody the mind of another species is to confront, and challenge, our human-centric biases.
For their second solo show at PHD Group, “Mushroom Clouds,” Zheng Mahler present a large-scale living, breathing, vivarium informed by the biodiverse ecosystems on Lantau Island. Built with the help of local myco-tech specialist Steven Yuen, the vivarium is a living example of the generative, collaborative, and responsive networks of our natural world: nestled between the shaded foliage of elephant ears and wispy tendrils of mimosa pudica are living fungi, playfully sprouting and retreating from logs and moss throughout the duration of the exhibition.