Symbiogenesis
2025

by John Wild and Shira Wachsmann, 

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Symbiogenesis is an installation originally developed for a cave in Mittweida, Germany, as part of Chemnitz 2025: European Capital of Culture. The work was later exhibited at the opening event of Iklectik Art Lab in London.


This site-specific installation connects five networks of grey oyster mycelium (Pleurotus sajor-caju) to light-emitting fibre-optic cables extending to the cave roof.



The mycelium operates as a living, real-time environmental sensor, translating electrical voltage spikes within its network into pulses of light transmitted through fibre-optic cables. 

The installation incorporates sound recordings of the Earth’s deep bass vibrations, captured from the perspective of the mycelium.


Symbiotic Intelligence - explores how mycelium can perform a different form of intelligence in the AI digital age—one rooted in collective assemblage, symbiosis, indeterminate movement, and emergence. Through the development of responsive art installations, we are prototyping and advancing what we call the symbiotic algorithm—both a functional algorithm and a theoretical framework—offering a new narrative of what intelligence can be. 

1. Forest
2. Interference Spores 2.0
3. Workshop: Interference Spores || Becoming Octopus
4. Interference Spores

John Wildindex