Red Fungus

Red Fungus is a follow up to Blue Fungus, but with different rules. Visitors to the exhibition are given a sheet of four stickers upon entering the museum. They are then asked to affix these stickers on the exhibition floor, according to a simple set of rules.

Having only four stickers consisting of basic shapes – two sizes of lines and circles – limits the scope of expression. It is exactly these limitations that will force the visitors to act like a machine, though one with a bit of creativity. While each visitor executes only a simple task, the repetition of these tasks, combined with the collaboration of other visitors, will lead to a more complex image. The freedom of direction and positioning of the sticker (within the limits of the rules) confronts the visitors with the impossibility of making an arbitrary choice. Patterns emerge because people will observe what others previously have done and react accordingly. So, ultimately the visitors work as a collective in the creation of an image. In this way, Red Fungus investigates the relation of emergence and (un)conscious human action.

Rules:
1 - Connect the stickers to the ones already affixed to the floor.
2 - Elements can be connected anywhere but may not cross over each other.
3 - Open line-ends are not allowed: connect them to other lines or to a circle.

Concept of the exhibition:
Before the background of unforeseen global processes, credit crash and climate change, the exhibition el proceso como paradigma researches the nature of processes and self organising, processual systems on a cultural level and in the arts. el proceso como paradigma puts forward the idea that today processes have become one of the major paradigms and creative strategies in contemporary art and design across the disciplines. The show reveals the elementary shift from a culture based on the concept of manifestation and the final product to a culture of process resulting from a networked society. Consequently, the show introduces a new understanding of process-based art which goes beyond previous definitions. el proceso como paradigma suggests that the new process-based art is the art of the 21st century.

Luna Maurer