Biomaterials Leader MycoWorks Co-Creates Interactive Mycelial Installation with Bold Design Brand YUME YUME

On view at the renowned Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam through the new year, the exhibit marks the biotechnology company’s return to its artistic foundations

AMSTERDAM, Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — MycoWorks, the San Francisco based creator of the first-in-kind biomaterial Reishi has collaborated on an interactive installation with conscious design collective company YUME YUME at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The museum’s #16 Descent into Fungal exhibit is a unique multi-sensory experience exploring humanity’s taming of nature’s most prolific source: mycelium, the root-structure of mushrooms and fungi. Conceived over the last eighteen-months between YUME YUME Creative Director Eva Korsten and MycoWorks Creative Director Xavier Gallego, the installation will run from November 30, 2023 through January 25, 2024.

“MycoWorks exists to collaborate with other creative leaders who are masters of their craft; to push the boundaries of Fine Mycelium forward through exploring new design possibilities that start inside the material,” said Xavier Gallego. “YUME YUME, through their curiosity and creativity with Reishi, made unexpected discoveries. By experimenting with and ultimately using the backside of Reishi, our collaboration unlocked entirely new possibilities– highlighting the fact that we are still on the ground floor in discovering the potential of Fine Mycelium. We believe the show at the Stedelijk will inspire other artists to turn to nature, observe it, and make something beautiful with the wonders they find.”

The world-renowned Stedelijk Museum stages thought-provoking and cutting-edge exhibits by pioneering creatives in modern and contemporary art and design. #16 Descent into Fungal will explore future fungal realities and how humans can nurture them into manifestation. The multi-dimensional project includes several installations such as a living art-piece by YUME YUME which will grow throughout the duration of the exhibit, adjusting and adapting to visitors and showcases by Andrey Shental, Milena Anna Bouma, and Don Yaw Kwaning. Alongside these collaborators, YUME YUME will debut its first head-to-toe outfit made with Reishi. Applied to the most coveted designs of YUME YUME’s the edit includes the Grown by Nature Trench; the signature Fisherman Boots; and the supersize Mushroom Hat. While the three Reishi-made pieces have been made primarily for the showcase, early interest in purchasing the collaboration may lead to a made with Reishi collection.

“This collaboration with Mycoworks was mind-bending creatively– but perhaps more importantly – a game changer for our brand values. Natural materials are limited. At YUME YUME, it’s been very encouraging to learn about mycelium and its potential in the future of materials. It’s fascinating to witness the intelligence it has as a living system, and one can’t help but see endless applications in the fashion industry,” said YUME YUME Creative Director Eva Korsten. “Making design pieces entirely with Reishi shows that a different future in fashion is possible and it’s very exciting to give full visibility to the pure beauty of mycelium materials. I’m very excited to have the Reishi styles at Buro Stedelijk, to share with visitors what we’ve learned so far, and hopefully raise awareness of the expansive choices fashion can now have with materials.”

Reishi is the first luxury biomaterial that uses MycoWorks’ revolutionary Fine Mycelium technology, which engineers mycelium during growth to form proprietary, interlocking cellular structures that produce natural materials of the highest-caliber performance and aesthetic standards. Reishi’s standard-setting qualities in hand-feel, draping, strength and durability have been made possible through countless rounds of research and refinement. Revolutionary partnerships between the world’s top materials scientists at MycoWorks and heritage craftspeople at eminent luxury maisons and leather tanneries in Europe have allowed Reishi to attain quality advancements previously impossible in leather alternatives. Chemical-free, biodegradable, with virtually no plastic involved in its production, and currently the rarest natural material on the market today, Reishi is in a league of its own among materials. In October, MycoWorks inaugurated its 136,000 sq.ft factory in South Carolina slated to produce millions of square feet of Reishi for its luxury clientele and for special projects with rising designers including this collaboration with YUME YUME.

Having previously collaborated on unique bespoke projects such as Heron Preston’s A Fruit Bowl and Deadwood Studios Mycelium Capsule, Reishi is the newest in-demand material. Reishi is unique in the materials space having been first discovered not in laboratories but in sculptural practice of biofabrication–the practice of producing works from living species such as mycelium– by MycoWorks’ pioneering co-founders. Perfected through science, biotechnology and heritage craftsmanship of our partner tanneries, the opening of #16 Descent Into Fungal with YUME YUME at the Stedelijk Museum is yet another avant-garde collaboration by MycoWorks’ creative director Xavier Gallego with next-generation talent.

About Buro Stedelijk
Buro Stedelijk is a hybrid art space that celebrates community and encourages experiment and boundary-pushing art. As a decentralized observatory, it is attentive to community needs and promotes artistic expression. By fostering collaboration between artists, communities, and institutions, Buro Stedelijk aims to inspire new perspectives and active civic participation. A place where curators, artists and other makers have the freedom to create and present new work which will give fresh impetus to Amsterdam.

About YUME YUME
Bold in design, the collective embraces authenticity by creating pieces that are both distinct and functional. While embracing originality with their singular convex silhouettes, we are also committed to bringing value to the industry, investing in performance by sourcing innovative materials when designing. Eva Korsten and Dave Hendriks founded the brand in 2020 and aims to encourage people to express themselves freely, allowing them to embrace their distinctiveness and break free from limitations. YUME YUME designs footwear and ready-to-wear and is available worldwide with stockists including SSENSE, LN-CC, 10 Corso Como and Luisa Via Roma.

About MycoWorks
In 2013, co-founders Philip Ross and Sophia Wang formed MycoWorks, a San Francisco-based biomaterials company dedicated to bringing new mycelium-grown materials to the world. MycoWorks’ patented Fine Mycelium technology, an advanced manufacturing platform and breakthrough in materials science, engineers mycelium during growth to form proprietary, interlocking cellular structures for unparalleled beauty, handfeel, strength and durability. The company’s flagship material Reishi is a new category of material for the world’s best luxury brands. For more information, please visit mycoworks.com and follow @madewithreishi on Instagram.

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SOURCE MycoWorks