Series

Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez

A Micro-Residency

ARCHIVE

Let’s Become Fungal in David Horvitz’s 7th Avenue Garden

Volunteer Gardening Day

In Spring 2024, writer and curator Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez spent time with Active Cultures to begin germinating a mycelial network between different ecological art practices in Los Angeles and beyond. 

Long invested in fungi and mycelium as a material––the ever-branching connecting threads of the fungal world––Ostendorf-Rodríguez invests in the potential in these rhizomatic networks to function as a potent metaphor for potential new systems, ways of thinking and behaviors. Inspired by the worlds of art and mycology, her work emphasizes multispecies collaboration, symbiosis, alliances, non-monetary resource exchange, decentralization, bottom-up methods and mutual dependency­—all in line with the behavior of the mycelium. 

A week-long program of public activities and encounters is the beginning of a long-term collaboration, strengthening ties and forming a support network of mutual exchange. We began with artist David Horvitz, in conversation, digging, gardening, cooking, and more in his 7th Avenue Garden.

 

Related Programs

Monday April 29th
Mycelial sharing with Exploring the Mycoverse
Arlington Garden

Yasmine and community group Exploring the Mycoverse  were joined by the Mycoverse community for a guided meditation and workshop in Arlington Garden in Pasadena. Find them here!

Wednesday, May 1
Idea Lab #2 at Metabolic Studio

Idea Lab is an on-going series of workshops that equip a diverse cohort of participants with specialized climate-focused knowledge. Together they explore strategies to address the pressing challenges of our time. Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodriguez joined Metabolic Studio for a presentation and workshop, with additional one-on-one sessions on Friday May 3rd. Their guiding question is “How Do We Organize Like Mycelium?,” where they will apply a mycological lens to foster equitable relationships and solidarity in organizing and taking action to bring about a better future. Read more here! 

 

Thursday, May 2
Volunteer Gardening Day at The Garden
1911 7th Ave and West Washington Blvd

In a vacant lot next to his studio where a house had burned down, artist David Horvitz and landscape architects TERREMOTO began designing a garden. Hosting exhibitions, performance, readings, gatherings, and more, David calls it “… a garden of additions, of stories. Memories. Futures. The flotsam and jetsam of all things. A design always in progress and un-designing itself.” All were welcome to join us for a day of gardening with David, Terremoto, Yasmine, and Active Cultures. 

Sunday, May 5
Let’s Become Fungal in The Garden
1911 7th Ave and West Washington Blvd

Join us for a regenerative barbeque in David Horvitz’s Garden. Together we cooked mushrooms in the ground oven, shared a no waste lunch, fed the garden with our scraps, and talked fungi and crows.

That afternoon, Artbook at Hauser & Wirth LA met us in The Garden to celebrate Let’s Become Fungal! with a book-signing, readings, and more.

Registration is free, all are welcome.

About the Artists

Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez is a curator, writer, and researcher working at the intersection of art and ecology. She is the founder and director of the Green Art Lab Alliance (established in 2012); a network comprising sixty art organizations across Europe, Latin America, and Asia and of the Future Materials Bank; a crowd-sourced database of sustainable materials for artists, designers and architects. The mission of both is to foster relationships and knowledge exchange that contributes to social and environmental justice, akin to the interconnected nature of mycelium. She is a self-proclaimed “mycophile”, interested in exploring the application of a mycological lens in defining fair models of collaboration and (self) organization. Her debut book, “Let’s Become Fungal! Mycelium Teachings and the Arts,” came out in 2023. 

An ocean romantic, David Horvitz is an artist based in Los Angeles. His expansive, nomadic body of work is presented through the forms of photographs, artist books, performances, memes, mail art, sound, rubber stamps, walks, and watercolor. His actions––often gestures of poetic resistance––explore varying conceptions of time, space, and letting go.

Credits

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Our programs this year are also made possible through the generous support of the Board of Directors; the Gatherers Annual Fund; the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition; the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan; and by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.