Translating Lichens
“By the late twentieth century, our time, a mythic time, we are all chimeras, theorized and fabricated hybrids of machine and organism; in short, we are cyborgs.”
- Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto
Lichens are hybrid organisms formed through symbiotic, interspecies relationships between fungi and algae or cyanobacteria. Drawing inspiration from this biological hybridity, this work presents a collection of lichen cyborgs—transformations of four specific lichens found growing on the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts campus. Through digital and physical translations, these organisms have been reimagined across diverse material forms related to the various craft studios on campus: porcelain, textile, plastic, leather, ink, and beyond.
The goal is not to perfectly capture, copy, or recreate the lichens, but rather to celebrate how various craft practices morph them into new beings. While the resulting lichen cyborgs sometimes bear little resemblance to their living lichen counterparts, this process of translation unveiled rich sensorial insights into the fragility, complexity, and beauty of lichens. This work not only fostered a deeper appreciation not only for these organisms, but for all the materials, tools, and processes that became part of their metamorphosis—embracing what Bruno Latour calls the "messy process of entanglement”.
