Lichens II - I. Fruticose
from Aaron Jay Myers Hosted by Aaron Jay Myers
For many years I have been photographing cracks, stains, mold, rust, and discoloration on man-made and natural objects. I continue to be humbled and deeply inspired by the raw beauty all around us that is often overlooked or taken for granted. For a long time, I didn’t realize that many of my photographs were not of mold, moss, or fungus like I thought they were, but actually of lichens instead. Lichens are beautiful bizarre organisms that are not a plant, moss, mold, or entirely fungus, and they are estimated to cover roughly 6% of the Earth’s surface. They do not have roots and there are thousands of recorded kinds of lichens. As described by the United States Department of Agriculture, “Lichens are a complex life form that is a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, a fungus and an alga. The dominant partner is the fungus, which gives the lichen the majority of its characteristics...” There are eight of the main categories of lichens with distinct characteristics which I used as inspiration for the eight movements: Fruticose (tufts, branch-like shrubs); Crustose (crust-like, close to the surface); Foliose (flat, leaf-like lobes); Byssoid (whispy); Leprose (powdery); Filamentous (stringy and matted); Gelatinous (jelly-like); Squamulose (clustered, flat, scale-like units). Lichens II is the second of the Lichens series and was written for my best friend, wife, and stellar violinist, Nicole Parks. It was completed in February, 2017. — Aaron Jay Myers
Embed this episode
No transcript yet.