mycology

Mycology is the scientific study of fungi. I first discovered it at Barnes & Noble two years ago. It was the beginning of summer, and my parents wanted me and my siblings to make a reading list that we’d work through over break. One of the books had to be nonfiction and the cover art of Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life caught my eye. I plucked it off the shelf without thinking, not really expecting much. When I actually got around to reading it, I was surprised by how interesting it was. I only just finished the book last month, which might not seem like a big accomplishment, but it was the first nonfiction book I’d read all the way through. It’s one of my favorite books, and I recently destroyed the book’s dust jacket to make the collage art on my sketchbook cover.

I think what drew me to mycology is the mystery surrounding it. We don’t think much about fungi, but as one of the oldest organisms on the planet, they are so much more complex than we think they are. Merlin Sheldrake’s book is a good introduction to these concepts; you read about psychedelics, the symbiotic relationships between mycelium and plants, and zombie ants (no, I will not elaborate).

I also enjoy mycology because it’s a subject outside of art. Up until recently, all of my hobbies had been mainly art-related, which often led to burnout. Mycology was a breath of fresh air when I wanted a break from my creative hobbies. Conversely, mycology has inspired a lot of the artwork I make now, like the collage art I mentioned earlier. I would recommend Entangled Life to anyone who has interest in mycology but doesn’t necessarily read non-fiction or science books.