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Mentoring notes

December 2022: first presentation project pitch

This review need a special story.

Story

This week of december was hard, I has to going back home in Troyes for taking care to my sick dad.

20th december, day of the review or 12h in the hospital.

This day my dad was pretty sick, we decide to go in urgence, packing a picnic, and my stuff for work.

The laptop on the stretcher between my father's feet. My presentation wasn't done 1 hour before I came.

Lauriane was on the phone with me in the middle of the waiting room, rehearsing my presentation and correcting my PowerPoint. My brain couldn't cope, I was lost. I was worried about losing my internet connection and running out of battery power by the time it was my turn. I finally found a sitting area on the floor next to the coffee machine at the back, which seemed quiet to me with as little noise as possible in the background.

The oral is over, let's go to taking care of dad, talking and sharing chocolate with an italian and a grandmother losing herself in the urgence. In the middle of the night, the result. It's a big pomelo in the brain.

After a white night going back home making a bus tour after didn't take the right direction. I feel this day will be never finished. Fews days after we had the result on it.

Dad as a cancer. The 48h after he was operating urgently.

I finally was obsessed with Trametes Versicolor/Coriolus versicolor/Queue de dinde...

Oscar Tomico

At the beginning you were talking about empowering the community. Is the bigger aim creating a lab, or is it more about the tools ? it’s really interesting, don’t separate the tool from the lab itself, and the community. It’s the combination of the tools, examples, and helping others to create that makes it interesting sounds good! Try to keep in mind : the tools, and also the lab: how to use the machine, where to place it, workshops, etc. how can you help others, how can they replicate your process.

Would be good to combine the tools, the workshops with a blueprint of the lab.

Anastasia Pistofidou

Mycelium Making machines for the lab is very nice and meaningful project, do not be afraid to say this as your project.

January 2023- Global review

Anastasia Pistofidou

In your samples from the forest, you have things growing, but not only mycelium ; normally you need to take from the plate only the thing that you know, and put it in a new plate, to separate the different organisms. You need to choose the one you want to put on a new plate. Look at the doc of Annah : https://class.textile-academy.org/2022/annah-sangosanya/FinalProject/00_Conceptualisation/ ^ you can see how she set up her incubator

Having an incubator is not exactly what you need for the mycelium ; you need 90% humidity, and a lot of CO2 ; it’s better to make your own thing than an existing incubator. Also use the remain of the grown.bio kit if you still have some, it will give you quicker result. Playing with this will give you some happiness and results more immediately. Because mycelium is a long process"

For Lisa Boulton and me "In both cases, we can spend a lot of time talking about the technical development, but your project is also about talking how we want to move humanity towards a non-anthropocentric way, working in symbiosis with the environment. Maybe at the end your proof of concept is a petri dish only, but you have the whole story, the process, working with the community, the story, etc. This is very important, your story is built around this. Contextualize why you want this, why you think this is important"

February 2023 Mid-term

Link in the chat : https://www.mycotex.nl https://www.instagram.com/p/CjCkeCAolNu/

Troy Nachtigall

"It’s really exciting that you’re building this as a thing for people to use." Helen Steiner, she did this biobits thing. I would look into her work, especially for the mindblowing workshops, look at her portfolio https://www.helenesteiner.com/project/biobits. Mycotex : building mycelium leather : they’re growing it on 3d parametric surfaces The future needs sheets, but custom pieces could be fascinating and amazing

You’re working on the community level ; do you know the citizen science toolkit ? It’s a really beautiful way of approaching this : https://waag.org/nl/article/making-sense-van-pilots-naar-citizen-sensing-toolkit/

Cecilia Raspanti

"Example of mycelium leather : maurizio montalti, balenciaga jacket made of mycelium leather Helps in seeing real final products, also for the skeptical people because they exist ! On one side you instigate, and on the other side you wow them with finished product. Recipe for the sheets, grown on liquid, and glycerinated and heat pressed ; they are very velvety on one side, like suede : https://biofabforum.org/t/method-of-making-mycelium-leather/218"

March 2023, Final review

Diane Wakim

Too good the distances from your home for resources! The video at the end is really good, and I think it's beautiful and soothing.

English vocabulary tip: you use "for" instead of "to" almost systematically. For example, it's "to see", not "for see".

The cookbook is so cool, it looks so beautiful! Bravo bravooooo !!!

Cecilia Raspanti

The book looks fantastic, we all want one for our lab ! The images are amazing, congratulations Amandine, fantastic work !

Malou Beemer

You’re really focused on the research and the research process, I like it You mentionned all the different phases, it’s really helpful, especially for people that are not familiar with this kind of research

Usually when we see research being presented, it helps to have a clear overview (”We tried this, didn’t work, this worked, the pros, the cons, etc.”). Maybe you’ll have this in the book, but in any case I think it’ll really help understand.

You combine research with such beautiful esthetic picture, even people who are a bit afraid of it like me can get into it !

I liked that “local” was measured in your project ! Sounds basic but it’s very important note for everyone here today !

Beautiful, I’m looking forward to the book !


Last update: 2023-10-21