How can we learn from fungi?
How do fungi collaborate and grow together?

We approached fungi not just as organisms, but as models for how systems grow, adapt, and sustain life through connection. Anna Tsing calls them “restorers of life networks in the ruins.” Fairy rings became a central symbol in our research. What appears as a simple circle of mushrooms is part of a vast, living network beneath the surface.

The Polyfungal Maypole is a polyphonic sound installation, inspired by the fairy ring, fungi and the maypole. Our audience/users become a fruiting body of the fungi and are guided through an experience where they work together to harmonize with the soundscape. During the experience our participants work collaboratively through play, ritual, body movement, sound and the physical connection of the pipes pulling them into close listening and connection. They play an array of instruments, which allow them to respond to rhythm for movement. The mycelium - the hose pipes - carry these sounds physically, and the soundscape and meditation play digitally. The voice carries the group through a practice of deep listening, and teaches our guests about the entangling of all life as they play. The literal entangling of the maypole fungal web pays homage to our ecological symbiosis, with ourselves and the living earth.