CONCEPT
«MELANIN BLOOM”—a composition where radioactive decay directly governs the growth of a living organism: physics generates biology, and biology generates sound. The project embodies the sound of dark fungi absorbing radiation in two completely distinct spaces: outer space and a nuclear reactor.
HISTORY
1. In Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, dark-pigmented fungi—Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Wangiella dermatitidis—live on the internal surfaces of the reactor. They were discovered there in the 1990s.
2. Radiotropism: melanin in the cell wall absorbs ionizing radiation and transfers the energy to metabolism. C. sphaerospermum has shown accelerated growth under elevated radiation levels—some estimates suggest up to approximately two times.
3. Space: In 2020, an experiment was conducted on the ISS involving C. sphaerospermum. Not only did it survive in microgravity and high radiation, but it also grew faster than on Earth and reduced the radiation background inside the station. The fungus, grown in a dead reactor, functions as a radiation shield for astronauts.
4. Radiotrophy—an actively researched but not fully understood phenomenon: some effects are explained differently, and data across various studies conflict. In this project, work with this phenomenon is approached both as a scientific hypothesis and a physical metaphor.
STRUCTURE
1. COSMOS
- outer space - mycelial absorption - energy acquisition and growth
- clicks as dissociation - predominantly high frequencies - reverb - smooth transition to the reactor
2. REACTOR
— reactor space — mycelium absorption — energy accumulation
— hum as reactor space — noise as accumulator discharge rate — predominantly lower frequencies — slow process completion
WORK PROCESS
1. Reactor
2. Mycelium Absorption (Sample); 3. Cosmos
«There should be no life here. But they chose to bloom, feeding on what destroys…»
