Timo Rissanen
Queering Mycoremediation, 2023
glass jar with metal lid, old briefs and jockstraps, oyster mushroom mycelium 5" x 12" x 12"
Queering Mycoremediation is an ongoing, open-ended experiment. Two pickle jars contain an oyster mushroom growing in four pairs of old briefs or jockstraps. The living fungus slowly digests the cellulose in the cotton fibre for nourishment. Given the vast quantities of clothing discarded each year the jars present a microcosm of the conflicts between biological and technical systems in landfills, soils and oceans across the world. Myco-remediation will be critical in managing fashion waste, yet difficult technical and ethical questions require care and discussion. The jars aim to be a humorous conversation starter into a complex topic that, through our wearing of clothes, including underwear, pertains to every one of us.
Timo Rissanen
Rest In Porn, 2020
cotton aida cloth, cotton embroidery floss 45" x 22"
Rest In Porn is a response to suicides by three prominent gay porn actors: Dror Barak (Roman Ragazzi) death from suicide on February 23, 2012, aged 38; Péter Kozma (Arpad Miklos), death from suicide on February 3, 2013, aged 45; Wilfried Chevalier (Wilfried Knight), death from suicide on March 5, 2013, aged 38. It is important to acknowledge these men as more than their perfect physical manifestations, as more than images, as men with the same fears, hopes and dreams that we all have, as vulnerable human beings. Yet it is also critical not to 'sanitize' their work: sex work is sacred, sex work is work.
