Invited by Marmoles Corrubias, Aléa’s exploration with stone and mycelium emphasises contrasts in material properties, lifespan, durability, and perceived value, prompting us to consider the relationship between apparent opposites.

Project 1: Figure Ground

Figure Ground rethinks the mold by imagining perpetual reuse and assigning value in the fabrication process of the mold itself.

The positive and negative spaces stand in a close relationship, burring the distinction between the negative and positive, mold and form, subject and object

Engaging in a play of oppositions that challenges the value we place on process and material worth: precious/waste, durable/ephemeral, heavy/light, seemingly contradicting yet inseperable and interdependent.

Project 2: Agglomerate: Mycelium-bound marble fragment tiles

Expanding on their research exploring mycelium as a binder for waste materials, Aléa looked to assemble non cellulose-based substrates with mycelium to transform them into a new material.

Combining stone industry post production waste with mycelium again plays with seemingly opposite characteristics and functions, imagining new applications with more fluid rather than dualistic perceptions and uses. (Example semi-durable, after-life use of the tiles, tiles if placed outdoor may last for one or two months and then biodegrade into a marble gravel, or multifunctional sound/thermo resistant as well as strength,…)

Prwoject 3: Living composition (a situation)

Stacked stone scraps through minimal manipulation are transformed into vessels and rearranged to grow mushrooms.

Living composition (a situation) explores reciprocity between stone and mycelium, considering both as living systems.