FUNGI: Anarchist Designers
In his manifesto, biologist and author Rob Dunn explains how fungi have shaped human history since prehistoric times.
Just as people often talk about their distant ancestors as if they always acted with intent, Dunn describes the actions of fungi as the outcomes of a predetermined plan. According to Dunn, fungi are colonisers that domesticate other species and design the ideal conditions for symbiosis. He considers the way yeasts have shaped the diet and digestive systems of their ape-like hosts to be a masterpiece. These fungi are so cleverly adapted that Dunn envisages a bright future for them – with or without humans.
“ There is a case to be made that fungi have controlled nearly the entirety of the world’s prehistory and history, and that they will control the future too… I offer this manifesto on behalf of the fungi which cannot write with a computer or a pen, and yet have etched their hieroglyphics into much of the rock and nearly all life on Earth. ”
Rob Dunn
Robert Dunn is a biologist, writer, and professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University. His research explores the biodiversity of everyday environments, including belly buttons, mites that live on human faces, ants in backyard, and fungi and bacteria in houses.
Other manifestos
Throughout FUNGI: Anarchist Designers, the case for an alternative worldview emerges. Rather than striving for control, humans should take inspiration from the cross-species, more-than-human alliances that fungi exemplify. In their manifestos, the experts invited by curators Anna Tsing and Feifei Zhou explore this shift in mentality. You can download all of the manifestos in full via the collection page on this website.