Digital Amanita: Hyperlinks Between Art and Science

Abstract

Known colloquially as “mushrooms” in the field of computer engineering, blue LEDs appeared in 1993 as a new invasive species capable of economically providing colour to screens and filling the world with electronic devices. In this context, the Amanita digital artistic research project links mycology, the social character of mushroom hunting and the toxicity of blue mushrooms with the morass of emotions (sadness, decay, disappointment, etc.) associated with this colour to ask, through art, whether technological overindulgence can have as a side effect the current blue feeling that characterises contemporary society. Using a parallel with agricultural and scientific techniques, a blue LED farm was created and many digital mushrooms were cultivated. Their physiological changes were also recorded in an online scientific and artistic diary in order to understand the eternal symbiosis between technology, nature, society and art. Finally, the conglomerate of themes and methodologies used in this project builds an article that exposes the potential of dialogue between disciplines. The metaphorical relationship between LED lights and mushrooms – the project’s key elements – allows us to approach the operation of and some of the social consequences of screens in contemporary society from other viewpoints.