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CRYPTIC LINEAGES: COAXING THE SIGNAL
An online public conversation with Laura Splan and Open Fung
Hosted by Open Fung
LOCATION: Online
DATE: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
TIME: 1:00 – 2:15 PM PT / 4:00 – 5:15 PM ET
REGISTER TO ATTEND: ZOOM LINK
FREE
This event will be recorded, archived, and captioned
EVENT DETAILS:
What does it look like when an artist and a group of scientists spend eight months thinking together - following curiosity wherever it leads?
Laura Splan is the inaugural resident of Open Fung's Artist-in-Research program, a collaboration that brings artists into sustained dialogue with Open Fung scientists, not to illustrate their work, but to genuinely explore alongside it. Over eight months, Splan followed her curiosity deep into Open Fung's research world - from fungal inks to speculative ideas about fungal computing - sitting with questions that are still opening up.
This event is an invitation to hear where that process took her: what it revealed, what it changed, and what it left her wanting to know more about. It's a conversation about the edges of knowledge, and what art and science can find there together.
Join us for an artist talk followed by conversation and Q&A with Open Fung co-founders Courtney Fink, Rachel Linzer, Rolando Perez and Phil Ross.
Open Fung's Artist-in-Research program is made possible with generous support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
ABOUT OPEN FUNG
Open Fung is a nonprofit organization advancing fungal technologies through open science and the arts. We centralize research, generate open-source data and methods, and bring together fungal innovation communities to foster collaboration. Our arts program creates the stories, spaces, and experiences that invite people into the fungal future.
ABOUT OPEN FUNG’S ARTIST-IN-RESEARCH PROGRAM
The Artist in Research program allows Open Fung to deeply engage with artists through extended research and exploration. Artists spend time with our team of scientists with the goal of thinking, exploring and working together. We present programs and events to the public to build connections. These public activities and exchanges are the first step towards a longer engagement, creating connections and forming a network of involvement.
ABOUT LAURA SPLAN
Laura Splan is a New York City-based artist working at the intersections of science, technology, and culture. Her research-based practice and interdisciplinary collaborations — with physicists, biologists, virologists, mycologists, engineers, and others — culminate in multimedia exhibitions and events. Her work cultivates what she calls the "tactical tactile": an intuitive sense of the interconnectedness of scientific phenomena and everyday life.