Poetics of Soil: Fly Agaric I
Fly Agaric I is part of Marshmallow Laser Feast’s Poetics of Soil series illuminating the hidden kingdoms of life underground and weaving the words and voice of renowned mycologist and author Merlin Sheldrake into a living tapestry. Here, the Amanita muscaria mushroom pulses and oscillates, unveiling the hidden rhythms of the earth’s soil—a glimpse into the “home of the lives that give us life.”
Beneath our feet hums another world, expansive and inventive, yet concealed from view. Fly Agaric I is part of Marshmallow Laser Feast’s Poetics of Soil series illuminating the hidden kingdoms of life underground.
This ongoing project reframes our relationship with soil and the diverse species it harbours—from trees and fungi to bacteria, archaea, and protozoa. Each species provides a unique lens on the microcosms that sustain life on Earth, knitting soil into living networks with complexity beyond anthropogenic webs.
For at least half a billion years, fungi have played the role of nature’s recycler, breaking down dead plant and animal matter into smaller molecules that are returned to the soil. Circular by nature, this process enriches the soil and makes nutrients available for plants and forest life to reuse. This symbiosis between plants and fungi weaves the Earth’s soils into living networks, comparable in complexity to neural pathways.
The relationship between plants and fungi gave rise to the biosphere as we know it. Fungi has long occupied the indigenous imagination, where it entwines with mysticism in science and the interconnectedness of more-than-human species. The Poetics of Soil series seeks to create a window into this unseen world – connecting us anew with these ancient, elemental systems some of us have long been disconnected from.
In our current state of climate catastrophe, it is critical to understand our interconnectedness with the natural world. By acknowledging fungi as a network of beings we can start to dispel the myth of our separation from nature and explore what it is to be something other than human – perhaps more than human.
Poetics of Soil: Fly Agaric I can be seen at Soil: The World at our Feet exhibition at Somerset House between 23 Jan and 13 Apr 2025, in London, UK
Nestled within the Embankment Galleries, Fly Agaric I weaves the words and voice of renowned mycologist and author Merlin Sheldrake into a living tapestry.
Poetics of Soil: Fly Agaric I, 2025
An Artwork by Marshmallow Laser Feast
(Ersin Han Ersin, Barnaby Steel, Robin McNicholas)
Words and Voice: Merlin Sheldrake
Executive Producers: Carolina Vallejo, Eleanor (Nell) Whitley, Mike Jones
Music, Sound Design and Spatialisation: James Bulley
Lead Producer: Emma Hamilton
Lead Artist: Quentin Corker-Marin
Houdini Technical VFX Artist: Nicolas Le Dren
Infrastructure Lead: Andrew Robinson
Head of Studio: Sarah Gamper Marconi
Studio Administrator & Production Assistant: Alexandra McRobbie
Scientific Advisors & Contributors
Francis Martin
Jamie Lochhead
Merlin Sheldrake