In ‘Mycelial Polyphonies,’ I weave through soil and silence, a decentralised network with an anti-hierarchical structure. My polyphonous nature speaks in whispers and echoes, forging connections unseen and beyond human consciousness. Through performative poetry, field recordings and polyphonic singing, I redefine relationships - sociality beyond the human gaze. I challenge agrarian norms, dissolve boundaries, and propose a symbiotic dance of reciprocity. I appreciate your interest in embracing an anti-hierarchical ethos, where every voice in the mycelial chorus harmonises within the middle ground.
Yours in interconnectedness,
Mycelium
Overture:
In fields where monoculture’s borders define,
The limits of growth, in a straight and rigid line.
Yet beneath the surface, where mycelium thrives,
Borders blur, in decentralised rhizomorphs.
Polyphonies echo through the top porous soil,
In the 10 to 15cm where mycelium lies.
Polyphonic form in decentralised bodies,
Decentralised resilience, conflicted interconnections.
Legislative gaps, like fences they stand,
But mycelium knows no such command.
In the middle ground, where borders dissolve,
Three meters by one and a half,
Each corner; a symbol of autonomy.
We own the land, but we don’t own the soil,
In the middle ground, where life does toil.
Mutual dependencies, life and non-life.
Landforms, people, above and below ground in harmony.
In the middle ground, where nature trusts,
A space for growth and conflict thrusts.
Voices of Mycelium, a polyphonic tune,
Grow and flourish, in networked entanglements.
24th of May 2024
Recorded and transcribed by
Asfah Hamid
With assistance from
Joe Hirst
- Eu sou devedor à terra,
- a terra me está devendo (repeat)
- A terra paga-me em vida,
- eu pago à terra em
- morrendo (repeat)
- I'm in debt with the soil (the
- same word also refers to
- 'land'),
- The soil owes me
- The soil pays me in life,
- I repay it when I die
- Miguel Teodoro
- Helena Bragança
- Helena Machado
- Sara Vaz
- Marco Balesteros
- Eva Baroccas
- Pedro Horta
- Jose Munoz
- Tiago Marquez
- Joe Hirst
- Celina da Piedade
- Bente Koelink
- Joao Ruivo
- George Ridgeway
- Paul Stamets
- Merlin Sheldrake
- Jon Goodburn
- Jake Robinson
- Ursula le Guin
- Silvia Das Fadas