Sub Oceanic Fungorum is an imagined fungal species inhabiting a subterranean ocean at the center of the earth. Part of an ongoing speculative ecosystem project called “Beats and Bodies of Inner-earth,” this species and many more were made to consider both non-human and anthropocentric influence of evolutionary morphology through curiosity and play. Inspired both by extremophiles (organisms who live/flourish in extreme environments) and decomposers, these speculative species show how resilience and decay work together in perpetuity. Treating waste, remnants, growth, and decay as types of co-evolving ancestors, Rodriguez uses this pedagogy to explore ephemerality and speculative fiction, grounding us in alternate realities.

Metamorph

Stoneware with luster on handmade paper with hibiscus. Artist book with screen print, relief, and ink on handmade paper and rag paper

Becca Rodriguez is an eco-artist, ceramicist, and musician who recently moved to Bedstuy from Atlanta, Ga. Their creative practice reflects on and is informed by the intersection of speculative fiction and prefiguration: how learning and dreaming about worlds within and beyond our own can affix us in them presently. Watery eggs, vessels, and ephemeral ecosystems are persistent motifs in their work across many disciplines: papermaking, bioplastic research, natural dyeing, sound art, and sculpture. Recently, Becca was a volunteer at the Amphibian Foundation in Atlanta, Ga, assisting in conservation practices, specifically from egg to fully metamorphosed frog or salamander in the foundation’s nursery. Their ceramic table-top game, “Metamorph”, has been installed on the Emma Wetlands of the Blue Heron Nature Preserve near Amphibian Foundation’s Metamorphosis Meadow (Atlanta, GA), at the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia (Atlanta), and at the Art Center at Duck Creek Farm (Springs, NY).

“Ephemerality and re-use are important functions within an art-being’s lifecycle I enjoy interacting with. I am especially excited to watch how the elements will engage with this “species” in my own neighborhood 🙂 Waste, excess, remnants, growth, and decay are types of co-evolving ancestors to me. I look at chemical and physical property change as a perpetual type of re-creation myth. Infusing one physical thing with another is a type of birthing, and naming this infusion speaks to phylogeny and descent.”

IG: @armarierodriguez