Ian Ong,
Sculpture Major,
Class of 2025
Project Overview
I wanted to try and create magical wards that are used in the world I’m writing about for my thesis. These wards are used as markers planted into the ground to absorb harmful magic and mark danger zones for travelers.
Inspired by my time in the military where I was trained in the deployment of chemical and minefield markers.
Process
I used Reishii mycelium inoculated in wood sawdust pellets.
For the molds, I 3D printed half of the form and vacuum-formed it. After growing the mycelium for 10 days, I joined the two halves together, securing them with tape. The two halves were then left to grow together for another 7 days.
The drying procedure had the pieces left to dry in a 30C incubator for 12 hours. All three sets lost about 10% of their weight after the first hour of drying.
The joining of the two haves could be better if there were possibly more time to grow, and possibly if there was some sawdust added in between before sealing them together with tape so that there would be more material for the mycelium to grow through.
