Formula Development for Open Air Mycelium Clay

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About

Myco-materials have been used as decorative elements in architectural structures, but the design and mechanical properties of these sculptures are physically constrained by simple molds. This results in block forms, shallow relief, and 3D printed aesthetics. These applications are nascent in form & function, but newer formulations show that myco-materials can be used more broadly, such as clay-like materials. However, current myco-material recipes rely on sterile environments and hand manipulation results in mycelial contamination. To integrate mycelium into existing sculpting techniques, our work expands current formulations to create a repeatable, low contamination risk material. Our previous prototype has successfully proven that this work can be used in a multitude of environments.

Impact

The majority of artists’ materials contain chemically toxic, non-recyclable plastics with damaging effects on human health and the environment. For example, petroleum foams break down into microplastics containing endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. Alternatively, commercial myco-materials are only available on a small scale. Here, we examine a series of mycelial materials to optimize large scale applications of sculptable fungal structures. By combining experience with formulating biomaterials and expertise in culturing, training, and cultivating mycelium, this research expands standard mycelial materials with novel techniques to create more accessible, hand sculptable substrates with functional and structural properties for fruiting mycelium.

Team

Sasha Fishman https://sashafishman.com/ Lera Niemackl https://lera-niemackl.com/

Funding

No displayed figures preserved for this project.

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Leaderboard page (offline): https://artizen.fyi/projects/1670453197112x281273508969760450
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Not recovered: creator, tags, funding, drives, submissions, snapshot. Sources: "snapshot" = verbatim Internet Archive page · "platform metadata" = archived artizen.fund page metadata · "leaderboard" = the artizen.fyi public accounting tables · "match catalog" = the platform's public fund-matching catalog (captured 2026-10-15, generated 2026-09-07) · "community catalog" = a June 2026 platform scrape preserved in a community repo.