Interview for The New Bookbinder Vol. 40 - 2020

The Mycelium Books are part of "The Growing Lab - Mycelia" collection and are an ongoing exploration into using pure mycelium materials as an alternative to traditional animal leather traditionally used in bookbinding. Experiments in creating and using this material are being carried out by Officina Corpuscolu & Mogu [1] in close collaboration with Mazzotti Books .

What is Mycelium?

Mycelium is the vegetative part of a mushroom, namely the group of micro-organisms that we call fungi. Part of the many fundamental tasks that fungi perform within the natural ecosystem is that they are responsible for breaking down organic material and transforming these into freshly available nutrients that can promote the growth of multiple life forms – for example plants, insects and other microbial life.

How is it made?

Mycelium materials are cultivated by means of fermentation.

By growing fungi on a large variety of substrates deriving from agro-industrial waste such as straws from hemp, flax, wheat, rapeseed as well as wood-chips and sawdust from many wood types, it is possible to create a wide array of materials with different mechanical/technical properties (like tensile strength, compression strength, impact resistance, etc.)  suitable for targeting many different applications, both within the creative and industrial world (i.e. furniture, interior design, fashion, etc.)

How is it currently being tested - that is, what products are being created?

Experimentally, Mycelium has been used to create many different products within the building industry, in furniture making, architecture, and the fashion industry but the actual range of products currently available on market is still limited. Mogu is in the process of releasing products for interior architecture and comfort, such as acoustically-absorbent and resilient flooring solutions. The company is also working on finalising flexible materials and solutions suitable for use in the fashion, fashion accessories and automotive industries.

How did Mazzotti Books become involved with Officina Corpuscoli?

I met Maurizio Montalti (Founder of Officina Corpuscoli and co-Founder of MOGU) when we were studying at the University of Bologna, Italy. Since then, besides our personal friendship, we have always been in touch about professional developments, updating each other on whatever we are working on and trying to create opportunities to collaborate on joint projects. In 2016, we decided to create our first three books for an exhibition called Veganism which was staged at Dutch Design Week (Figs 1,2 & 3).The books were produced by using the early prototypes of mycelium materials developed by Officina Corpuscoli.
Since then, the materials have gone through an incredible amount of development and improvement, and Mogu’s new range of flexible, pure mycelium materials (called PURA) was premiered in November as part of Biofabricate 2019, in London.

How does the research exchange work?

Officina Corpuscoli and Mogu are growing, testing and developing a variety of materials to be used in other industries and as a bookbinder I consider this an exciting opportunity; to able to work with a new material that has already been subjected to development and testing on other applications and that we feel could also be used for bookbinding.

Once a suitable material has been selected, I receive a sample and start handling the material, feeling it and understanding its properties.

I usually start by creating a case binding, just to see what the material does and how it reacts to glue and foil blocking. After that, I assess it and report back. This feedback loop continues until we have identified the most promising solutions.

Describe the material - what does it feel like? What is it like to work with?

The Mycelium I used as board material in book 1 (Fig.1), in 2016, has a lightweight consistency with a cotton-like feeling along the edges. In order to contain the fluffiness along the edges I have applied a thin layer of EVA along them. Unfortunately, although having a very interesting texture, it is not as resistant as millboard or grey board (it doesn’t bend, instead it breaks) and at the moment it only comes in a few thicknesses; the thinnest being 3mm. (Fig. 4 )

On book 2 (Fig. 2) I used a leather-like material similar to Amadou [2], a material derived from fomes fomentarius [3] and similar fungi that grow on the bark of coniferous and angiosperm trees. To the touch it is very similar to suede, but much thicker and more spongy. I used this material as panels for the front and back covers, just gluing it on top of a 1mm millboard board with no turn-ins. To press it I used some thick memory foam between the pressing boards and the cover. The visibly darker areas are where there was either more pressure due to unevenness of the material or more glue. Like suede, it doesn’t take foil blocking very well.

On book 3 (Fig. 3), I created a central panel on the front and back cover with a different material closer to latex rather than leather but far less stretchy. This time I did turn-in although the material is almost impossible to pare, with different thicknesses throughout. The result is uneven turn-ins. Apart from this issue the texture is very beautiful, almost alien and has a noticeable caramel smell. It is also possible to foil block although not easy due to the heavy texture (Fig 5 ).

On books 4 and 5 (Figs 6 and 8), I utilised PURA material backed with Fray-not using EVA-con R glue (Fig.9 and 10).

The difference between books 4 (Fig. 6) and 5 (Fig. 8) is that book 4 hasn’t been pressed under a nipping press, therefore the texture of the material has remained very soft, so much so, that even after a day of resting under a weight I could still impress a finger print on the front cover (Fig. 7). Pressing book 5 with a nipping press has allowed the substrate backing to come to the forefront, resulting in little bumps all over the cover (Fig. 8).

Book 6 (Fig. 11) has been bound with pre-thermo backed PURA (Fig. 12). The material seems very strong and versatile although a bit too thick, around 0.65 mm

PURA materials can be blind embossed and debossed at low temperature, around 130 degree Celsius, but unfortunately it can’t be foiled (Fig. 13).

Overall, compared to the early material samples that I received back in 2016, PURA materials appear certainly to be more homogenous in texture, density and overall consistency and much closer to a fully viable alternative to traditional animal leather, though not yet fully comparable to it.

Because these materials originate from a fungal skin, they constitute an entirely new category of materials. At the moment, PURA materials are going through major improvements that will possibly allow them to be employed as effective alternatives to traditional animal leather, without any need to be lined with other materials.

What I can see is that there is perhaps a good overlap between what is required by the fashion industry and bookbinding materials which could potentially accelerate the development of new bookbinding materials to work with as alternatives to traditional options.

Can you manipulate PURA like traditional leather?

PURA materials behave more like a book cloth rather than leather.

The materials that I received so far are still under a process of continuous improvement and they stretch relatively little when compared to animal leather due to the back lining.

Having said that, I am aware that there are already new PURA versions without any lining and with major improvements on mechanical properties. This result has been achieved by identifying suitable classical tanning processes.

Generally speaking, I don’t think it is correct to compare this material to leather or think that leather will be completely replaced by it. Soon this new material will have the same performance of leather but with different tactile properties creating a completely new range of materials.

Will it last - what does it wear like?

The first books produced (2016), are now three and half years old.

Book 2 (Fig. 2), unfortunately, has been eaten by flies although it was stored in a sealed box. The material had a high level of sugar content, making it irresistible to them (Fig. 14).

The other mycelium materials utilised in 2016 do not seem affected or spoiled yet, but I also think that it is perhaps still too early to evaluate the aging process.

The newest book made with PURA lined with Fray-not unfortunately appears relatively fragile. After a few days of handling the corners are damaged and the material has started to delaminate (Fig. 15 and 16). However, the book bound with pre-backed PURA seems to be much stronger and I am absolutely excited to keep following its evolution and observing how it will age.

Do you think there is a future for Mycelium as a bookbinding material?

Definitely. I personally don’t use much leather in my work, although I like it as a material, purely because I don’t think leather is always the most appropriate material to bind a book.

Leather is very durable, has a nice smell that we consider warm and familiar, and feels nice to handle. It adds a luxurious feeling, but sometimes it also true that when a book is bound in leather, it often becomes more of a precious object and less likely to be touched, let alone read!

Also, if the book is to continue to be seen as an object that enhances thinking, openness, reflection and imagination; an object that is a reflection of its contemporaneity, then today, perhaps it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify wrapping a book in the skin of a dead animal.

I truly believe that books still have the power to spark curiosity, reflection, and action and at the same time I feel that we are entering an age where material consciousness is not only related to luxury but becomes a necessity that requires a radical shift toward the way we think about materials, especially how they are produced.

If the covering material of a bound book can tell us something about our social history and can comment on our past and current preoccupations, both cultural and political, then definitely bio-based, responsible materials should become one of the first choices to think about when binding a book.

Any ongoing plans?

At the moment I am hosting a writer in residence with the intention to explore the possibility that we don't need books as a medium to share stories. The main questions that we are trying to answer are:

What other ways are there to tell stories? What can a bookbinder and a writer do together that they couldn't do separately? What can collaboration reveal?

Through making books together we will try to understand and find out what physicality means. We will be publishing everything we are thinking about: stories, research and interviews; the only goal being to explore the written word, the internet and books, and to question how we can find new ways to tell stories beyond the physical book.

In addition to this research, over the last couple of years I have been developing a new body of artwork that explores the visual and tactile language rooted in the materials and processes of bookbinding.

As part of this artistic research practice, I mainly focus on the manipulation and grouping of discarded materials, and, in opposition to bookbinding, where everything is strictly controlled and focused toward a specific outcome, I chose my artistic research practice to be free from end goals. I am aiming to present this body of work for the first time by the end of the year.

Last but not least, I am really looking forward to receiving the latest development of PURA materials, without any lining, to test it.

I am quite confident that in the next couple of years, maybe even less, mycelium based materials will be a solid bookbinding option.

If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Notes

Officina Corpuscoli  (corpuscoli.com)

Officina Corpuscoli (est.2010, in Amsterdam - NL), operates as a trans-disciplinary studio investigating and reflecting upon contemporary (material) culture, through the development of tangibly novel opportunities and advanced visions for the (creative) industry and for the broader social spectrum. Working at the junction between design, art, biotech and ecology, the studio develops design research, curatorial projects, critical installations, technologies and products, often inspired by and in collaboration with living microbial systems.

corpuscoli.com