Leninus fungalis Project
Context
Lenin was a mushroom (Russian: Ленин - гриб) is a popular mystification created by Soviet musician Sergey Kuryokhin and reporter Sergey Sholokhov. It was broadcast first on 17 May 1991 on Leningrad Television. The programme took the form of an interview in which supposedly scientific findings about the mushroom-like nature of Vladimir Lenin were presented.
The intention of the broadcast was, on the one hand, to desecrate and ridicule the sacred image of Lenin and communism itself, and, on the other, to create a satire on the pseudoscientific television programmes that were popular in the Soviet Union. The program was created shortly before the Soviet Union collapse, during the glasnost period, when many previously inaccessible documents and facts about Soviet history became public. At the time, television was widely perceived in Soviet Union as a trusted source of information, and many viewers actually believed the claim that Lenin was a mushroom. Soviet journalist Alexander Kushnir even stated that Sergey Kuryokhin had "destroyed Soviet Union" with this epochal mediavirus.[1]
Here are the links to english subtitled versions of the programme.
Concept
For me, Lenin was a mushroom is both a postmodern work of art and an early internet meme — a mediavirus that was still popular during my teenage years. More than 30 years after its creation, I decided to recreate the mushroom in the form of Lenin's face, using the facilities of the Bauhaus Bio Lab.
The project is also an attempt to move the story of Lenin was a mushroom to another level of absurdity — from postmodernism towards a metamodern perspective. Through the creation of leninus fungalis, I aim to continue the deconstruction of Lenin’s image, transforming a figure once treated as a heroic symbol into a media hoax and, finally, into a physical object — a mushroom.
Process
The whole process was curated by Alessandro Volpato. For the project were used the Mushroom Bootcamp resources.
Planting mushrooms in petri dishes
Using agar-agar, distilled water and malt extract powder, I first planted Reishi mushrooms in petri dishes on 24th of April. Sadly, due to mites epidemic in the Bio Lab, they became infected and couldn't be used. So, on 11th of May I planted Reishi mushrooms for the second time.
Planting mushrooms in grain jars
Usually it takes one week for mushrooms to be ready to be replanted in grain jars. On 18th of May I prepared the rye grain jars, added mycelium of Reishi and Fomes mushrooms, as there were Fomes petri dishes left from the other student's project. Finally, I had 9 jars: 3 with Reishi, 6 with Fomes.
Planting mushrooms in substrate bags
On 1st of June, after 2 weeks, I received an email from Alessandro Volpato that mushroom cultures were ready to be propagated. However, I wasn't in Weimar, so I started preparing the substrate bags and replanting the mushrooms only on 9th of June.
Preparing negative forms of Lenin face
To prepare negative form of Lenin face, I first found a 3D model of Lenin’s head online and used it as the basis for the physical model. I milled the head from PU modelling board, creating the positive that would later serve as the master for the mould.
I then brought the positive to the plastic workshop, where we used a vacuum former to produce plastic negative moulds. The main difficulty was the ears: because of their shape, the vacuum-formed plastic held onto the positive quite tightly, making it difficult to remove the original model from the mould. Some of the negative moulds developed cracks, which I subsequently sealed with duct tape.
Planting mushrooms in negatives
On the 19th of June, the mushrooms already looked ready, but since the negatives were still being prepared, I needed more time before transferring them. I stored the bags with the mushrooms in a cool place — my artistic atelier.
On the 23rd of June, I transferred the mushrooms into the negative moulds and wrapped them in kitchen cling film. It was also useful to place a layer of kitchen wrap underneath the mushrooms, as this made it easier to remove them from the moulds later.
I checked the mushrooms every day as they continued to grow. Interestingly, they developed differently in each mould. As Alessandro observed, one of the forms seemed to stay more compact and could potentially be removed as a whole, while another appeared more fragile and prone to crumbling. Following his suggestion, I decided to remove the more compact part first and observe what would happen.
On the 3rd of July, one of the front parts of the 'head' appeared ready. On the 6th of July, we removed it from the mould and left it to dry.
For the remaining parts, we tried transferring the mushrooms into fresh rye in an attempt to continue their growth. However, they did not develop further before the exhibition. The reasons for the different growth patterns — and the factors that allowed one part to develop successfully while the others failed to continue growing — remain open questions for further investigation.
Drying: fabrication of the object
As the front part of the 'head' was glued together, I could dry it, using the oven and letting it rest there overnight.
Exhibition of the object
Leninus Fungalis was presented as part of SUMMAERY, the annual summer semester exhibition at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The work was shown within “EMZ Delivery,” an exhibition by the class “Experimental Drawing and Painting,” led by Professor Jana Gunstheimer.
I exhibited the object directly on the floor, surrounded by the growing substrate, as if it were an ordinary mushroom growing from the ground. I wanted to create the impression that the face was emerging from the earth and looking back at the viewer.
The object was accompanied by a short video excerpt from the original broadcast of “Lenin Was a Mushroom,” featuring Sergey Kuryokhin repeating the famous statement.
Conclusion
I consider this project a success. During the “EMZ Delivery” exhibition, I received very enthusiastic feedback from visitors about the work. I would like to continue investigating both its artistic and technical aspects.
First, I would like to explore the optimal conditions for growing the mushrooms, experimenting with different forms, temperatures, and other environmental factors. Second, I would like to further explore the sculptural possibilities of fungi by experimenting with larger and more complex forms.
I would also like to acknowledge the support of Alessandro Volpato, head of the BioLab, whose expertise and guidance in working with the facilities of the BioLab were essential to making this project possible.