Life on Earth has evolved in constant relation to gravity, yet we rarely consider how deeply it shapes living systems, until we imagine a place without it. Fungi sense gravity through gravitropism, guiding the growth of fruiting bodies, though the mechanisms behind it remain largely unknown. In MycoGravity, pink oyster mushrooms grow inside a custom-built bioreactor mounted on a KUKA robotic arm. Inspired by NASA’s random positioning machines, the robot’s programmed movement simulates altered gravity. Over time, sculptural mushrooms emerge, shaped by their environment without a stable gravitational direction. Sensors and cameras monitor environmental conditions and fungal activity in the bioreactor. The floating bioreactor rotating in space becomes a living sculpture. Visitors can follow their transformation via real-time data online. MycoGravity explores what it means to bring terrestrial life into unfamiliar environments, and how life might continue to respond, delicately and unexpectedly.
MycoGravity / Amir Bastan, Noor Stenfert Kroese, Johannes Braumann - Photo: Amir Bastan
Exhibit
MycoGravity
Amir Bastan (IR), Noor Stenfert Kroese (NL), Johannes Braumann (AT)
Ticket //
POSTCITY Ticket, ONE DAY PASS, FESTIVALPASS, FESTIVALPASS+
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Photo: Nick Helderman
Noor Stenfert Kroese
Noor Stenfert Kroese is an artist and researcher with a background in performance art, scenography, and mycology. She explores biomediated interactions between humans, living organisms, and robotics through media arts. Her PhD at the Creative Robotics Lab focuses on data storytelling of living organisms, fungal biocomputing, and frameworks for (non-)human interaction. She works as a lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the University of Arts Linz.
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Photo: Amir Bastan
Amir Bastan
Amir Bastan is an artist and researcher with a background in fine arts, philosophy, and interaction design. He is currently a doctoral researcher at Creative Robotics and a lecturer at the University of Arts Linz. His work explores human consciousness, AI, and robotics within media arts and interactivity frameworks. His research, The Human Robot Transference, links psychoanalysis with Human-Robot Interaction. He developed Bunraku, a software for real-time robot control and simulation.
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Photo: Johannes Braumann
Johannes Braumann
Johannes Braumann is professor for Creative Robotics at UfG Linz, leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers towards exploring robots as an interface between the digital and physical world. As co-founder of the Association for Robots in Architecture, Johannes is linked with both the robotics and design community. He is the main developer of the robot simulation and programming tool KUKA|prc, which is today used for high-end robotic fabrication at both universities and companies world-wide.
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Creative Robotics
Creative Robotics is a research unit within the University for Arts and Design Linz that was set up with the goal of investigating robotics as an interface between the digital and physical world.
