Biography

Xylan de Jager is a young, idiosyncratic spirit with an imaginative appetite for innovation. Having mushroomed from a boundary-pushing architecture student to managing forward-thinking labs, pushing new technologies. Xylan is currently thriving as a project coordinator with the Water & Health Research Centre and manager of the Creative Microbiology Research Co-Lab. An evolutionary constant through the resilient journey of self-reinvention has been his intrinsic passion as an ambitious, autodidactic mycologist, with an eye for the extraordinary. Inspired by his unique visions for the power of mycelium Xylan founded a successful mushroom company, with the intent to grow his private research laboratory. Xylan is merging his scientific inquisition and love for art through a synergic mycelial collaboration. In the Exploration of co-created futures, they tantalise the boundaries of normalcy through a future reimagined.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My interest in science was sparked when I explored using mycelium in an architectural project. From then onwards my obsession with the organism infused my architectural practice. Through exploring mycelium as an avenue of future architecture, I was drawn to using it in a visual and tactile manner, as a means of communication. I became increasingly inspired by its properties and its abundance of surprises. Mycelium, along with its propensity to network, drew me into envisioning future uses for the material.

Mycelia can make decisions and alter their developmental patterns in response to interactions with other organisms. They may even be capable of spatial recognition and learning, coupled with a facility for short-term memory. Mycelia have an ability known as the ‘Wood Wide Web’, which allows for the culture to communicate internally and to act as a communication network between trees and plants. This network is also used to transport nutrients within the mycelial network and between plants. It has fabulous functional qualities such as being hydrophobic, fire retardant and carbon available, which allows for the creation of composite, functional and novel materials. I embarked on a project many years ago that investigated the feasibility of using mycelial matting – produced using agro-waste – as fireproofing in buildings in informal settlements.