a2b2-zine-roundy-rev14-PRINt-NOTRIM

VOL. 1, NO. 1
MARCH, 2021
“THE FUNGAL WORLD”
MAGAZINE

VOL. 1
# _____ / 1000
ii
©2021 A2B2 Studios, LLC

A2B2 MAGAZINE
Q+A with Andy Morin ........................................ 2-3
Untitled_project.psd <churchonacid.info> ....................... 4
John Garcia <johngarciastudio.com> ............................ 5
@ludaghost .................................................. 6
Gareth Clark “Spiritual Germination” @sane.flesh ................. 7
Gareth Clark “Mother Muscaria” @sane.flesh..................... 8
Gareth Clark “Mycelium Mesh” @sane.flesh ...................... 9
tyBB “torno-me eles e não eu.” @tybr_place....................... 10
Watervhs “World of Fungus” ................................... 11
Riley Urbano ................................................. 12
“Typical Shrooms” @krashhash ................................. 13
“Propagation 1” @a2b2cultist ................................... 14
“Propagation 2” @a2b2cultist ................................... 15
Liliana Limpidă “Totalitarian Liberalism “........................ 16
Ken Taylor “Neon Mushrooms and Roses” @_kennethtaylor ........ 17
“Propagation 3” @a2b2cultist ................................... 18
T ........................................................... 19
Rainan Fernandes ............................................. 20
“Monkshroom” @floraison.inc .................................. 21
“Moon Based” @technoprotest.................................. 22
Kevin Naylor ................................................. 23
“Fungal Wizard” @greezlygrips ................................. 24
Ratfucker (aka Baxter) “this is a nightmare!” ...................... 25
Nichole Fitch “Portal for Mortals” @nicholefitch ................ 26
Slum “Precurse” .............................................. 27
“Shrooms” @matthewsmakings ................................. 28
Ani Boja “Kepudha” @aniboja99 ................................ 29
EyedArgus “as a feather in orbit.” ................................ 30
Daniel Um “Mycelium Running” @danielum90 ................... 31
Rowan Draper “Gordy on a Good Day” @rowd.art ................ 32
Rowan Draper “Silence” @rowd.art ............................. 33
Sterling Wells <sterlingwells.info> ............................... 34
“Drowned” @vxnishedgum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
“Mycology” @bonk ........................................... 36
“Forage” @bonk .............................................. 37
“Fungicide” @amityvillebb ..................................... 38
“Shroom Milkshake” @marcym3w .............................. 39
Leg Jit “Behind the Cigar Shoppe” ............................... 40
L “Ritual” @l.8.l.8.l.8.l ......................................... 41
Cody Morgan “Mushrooms”.................................... 42
Pure Fantasy “La donna e i funghi” @prfntsy ..................... 43
@mother_fine ................................................ 44
Evan Wayne @evnwyn......................................... 45
@princess42.................................................. 46-47
GFXSLYR @graphixslayer...................................... 48
Terry x Yandhi “Sawcon” ....................................... 49
“No Trouble Mushroom Oatmeal” @high.flying.assets ............. 50
Alex Borrego “Subconscious Melody” @brownyuio ................ 51
Joe Kelly “Eternal Recurrence” @revealednoumenality ............. 52
Joe Kelly “Liminal Dragon” @revealednoumenality ................ 53
Anathema Mundi ............................................. 54
Genevieve Rust “Spore Print” @feebleflesh ....................... 55
bonk “Mushroom Food” ....................................... 56
Matt Copson “Sculpture With Growths” ......................... 57
Ben Noam “Mushroom #1 2021” @wolf_noam.................... 58
Luke Champi “MUSHROOMS / THE FUNGAL WORLD” ........ 59
Kat Liu “see u in the afterlife” ................................... 60
Ronald Hempseed “Spore Mitigation”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Prince Toadstool ............................................. 62
Ouro Boros @fyredup.123...................................... 63
“Meddlers Episode 1 - Unfair” @husninjan ....................... 64-67
@hellospiral .................................................. 68
unsplash “<<FUNGU5>>” @l0nsett ............................ 69
“mooshroom cow but more epic” @lovelesss_666 .................. 70
Nestor Peixoto Aballe ......................................... 71
@schwane_obtained_the_tea ................................... 72
Genevieve Rust “20 Jazz Funk Greats” @feebleflesh ................ 73
Klinck “Mushroom Hat” ....................................... 74
Blaise Krueger “Ramblings of an Urban Mushroom Hunter” ........ 75
Noah Grant .................................................. 76
“facial recognition pandamonium” @blankcellzero ................ 77
Jon Rafman (Stills from forthcoming film) @jonrafman . ........... 78-87
Tyler Carr “DogWearing FunnyHat” ............................. 88
Ghoulia “Untitled” @reddwarfsun .............................. 89
Robert Möllard ............................................... 90
Carter Holsten @carterholsten .................................. 91
Stanley Rogers “Fruiting Bodies” ................................ 92
Blaise Krueger ................................................ 93
Travis Weber ................................................. 94
Ahmer Yasin “Tea Pots” @yeahseenit ............................ 95
“Third Eye of the Beholder” @kenzieregan ....................... 96
Midge ‘Mantissa’ Sinnaeve “Lichen 1” <mantissa.xyz> ............. 97
Caesar Rune “My Girlfriend Is Beautiful, I Wanna Dress Like Her” .. 98
Kaelen Williams “Mushroom” ................................. 99
“Inhale the Spores” @amityvillebb ............................... 100
Nicole Strubinski “Mushroom Pizza” @cherrifunfetti .............. 101
@ushiembrace ................................................ 102
@coachwash ................................................. 103
Anasol Espinoza Araya “Húmedo y Obscuro” @tournesxl .......... 104
Rowan Draper “In the Lawn” @rowd.art ......................... 105
Michael Quint “view of mushroom / fungal world 5661” .......... 106
Nestor Peixoto Aballe ......................................... 107
Rowan Draper “Mother and Son” @rowd.art ..................... 108
Moneki “toxic mushroom brain” ................................ 109
Niels Pahl “NPSHROOMS” .................................... 110
Rowan Draper “cyberhound” @rowd.art ......................... 111
Isabel Fish “cluster” @0_1010111 ................................ 112
tyBB “the indeterminacy of hatching in the crust” @tybr_place ..... 113
“mushroomhead” @listening2podcasts .......................... 114
TC “Brought To You By Softbank” ............................... 115
mengrl “scum” @mengrldotnet ................................. 116
Evan Wayne “Incessant Descent” ................................ 117
David T. “whisper in ur ear” .................................... 118
Meybel Guzman “Psychedelic” .................................. 119
Misplaced Lines “Death Cap Field” @misplacedline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
“Specters of the Spore” @Poley .................................. 121
Miss Conduct, May I...? ........................................ 122-123
Taliesin Mayne @10th.of.the.tenth .............................. 124
Staff ......................................................... 125
NO.1: THE FUNGAL WORLD
iii

Q+A with
Andy Morin
by Christian Oldham
Andy Morin (born May 16, 1986) is an American producer, engineer
and musician. He first gained attention as the co-producer and keyboardist for
experimental hip-hop group Death Grips, formed in 2010. He currently resides in Los
Angeles, California.
Christian 光 雲 Alborz Megazord Oldham (born May 4, 1992) is an educator,
writer, artist, and third-level freestyle Ryusei-ha ikebana sensei. They are disciple and
archivist to the Headmaster’s Advisory Instructor of the Ryusei-ha, Kosen Ohtsubo.
Their work is concerned with the privatization and stratification of knowledge and
the politics surrounding production and re-production. Their practice actively seeks
to counteract apathy, insensitivity, laziness, and indifference. They currently work
between the USA, Germany, and Japan. <christianalborzoldham@gmail.com>
Megazord: So, what is A2B2?
Andy: A2B2 is an alternative creative community of musicians, gamers, artists, and
technophiles. This is from Google’s perspective. It’s also an outlet where I develop
and release some of my work.
Megazord: Where does the name A2B2 come from?
Andy: It’s my old chat handle from 1999 when I was thirteen years old - @a2b2 on DalNET.
There I was into bots, scripting, DCC, constantly trying to cyber, 16/m/ca.. etc.
Lots of that and ICQ. Around 2004, it became my personal web server, a2b2.org. I
used it as a file dump, to post my digital art and music, and experiment with new
tech/scripts... I would make floating interactive GIFs and puzzles where files would
only be visible if you set your computer’s clock to a certain year, for example.
All kinds of stuff. Early on, I realized people were always trying to break in, so
I would hide messages in the source code. Usually “fuck you,” etc. Sometimes I was
hosting things for friends.
Megazord: Did anyone succeed breaking into the site?
Andy: A few times, yes. Once a particular music track from my file server got leaked that
was never intended to be released. Unfortunately, anyone listening to that version
is getting a sad mess, missing all of the instrumentation, a shell of the complete
version. Nobody’s heard it the proper way.
Megazord: So you were posting your personal art on the site. What happened next?
Andy: In 2009, I designed a yellow and black logo and used A2B2 as the official name of my
recording studio and music publishing. I then had a friend screenprint it on a vinyl
window cling. For some reason, after I left that building the sign stayed up. As far
as I know, it’s still there in the window on the corner. I understand it’s become a
bit of a pilgrimage site.
Megazord: The vision appears to have evolved significantly since 2009.
Andy: Yeah, I always knew I wanted to make it a site where people could create accounts
and post content. The model for this was spaceghetto.sg, a cursed place that no
longer exists where I saw many of the most glorious and worst things I’ve ever seen
on the internet. So, now we have something like that, with a bit more visual art,
and a lot less gore.
Megazord: How did you build the current version of the site?
Andy: The current form of the site began when I got an ominous email from someone
called “TempleTerry” who told me he had broken into my server, and detailed the
numerous security vulnerabilities that existed. I can code, but I don’t know shit
about servers. So it was totally configured all wrong. I immediately decided the
only way to deal with the situation was to ask him to work for me. Luckily, he
accepted and we then worked together non-stop for about two months to build the raw
infrastructure for the site. He also set up the official Discord and helped assemble
the first iteration of the A2B2 Marketing Team.
2
Q+A with Andy Morin

Q+A with Andy Morin
Megazord: And now you’ve moved into the real world with events like Night Of Fire. Can you
tell us more about that event?
Andy: Night of Fire was an online streaming concert we did on Nov. 13 last year. We
had sets from thirty-seven artists and raised $12.5k for the Los Angeles Downtown
Women’s Shelter. The name of the event, the line-up, and all the organization came
from A2B2 volunteers. It ended up being really wild and we’re already getting a lot
of inquiries about the next one.
Megazord: What does A2B2 have planned for this year?
We’re launching the magazine. We’re going to expand the bounty system. It’s the
first element in the framework we are developing for Synthetics University, which
is a reverse school that will pay students for learning. Right now, it’s a way for
users to help each other perform small jobs for each other. I use it for my music
work.
Megazord: An exercise in negative definition: Can you explain what A2B2 is expressly NOT?
Andy: It’s anti-power, anti-suffering, and anti-pollution.
It’s not a metric-fueled brand or reality show.
It’s not regressive or fear-based.
It’s not a secret coded message or out to get you.
We have a great team of moderators that have the authority to take down content
they find whack: often guns/violence; animal, psychological, and sexual abuse; gore,
racism/bigotry/hate speech, spam. Generally the attitude is punk creativity and
exploration.
Megazord: Can you name significant non-artistic/musical events in your life that have greatly
shaped your approach to artistic/musical activities?
Andy: When I was 20 years old, I learned how much art can mean to people. I worked as a
camp counselor for developmentally disabled youth and adults in the redwood forest
near Santa Cruz, California. It was mostly for children with heavy autism-spectrum
disorders and related conditions.
There was a kid there, about 11 years old. He was fidgety, nervous, but generally
happy and liked to play and explore. His nickname was “Crossing Lights’’ because
every few seconds, he would become terribly uneasy and start saying “crossing
lights...crossing lights PLEASE... CROSSING LIGHTS...PLEASE!!”, screaming and crying
to the point where he would be having a full mental
meltdown. The only way to ease his distress was to draw a
series of little symbols like this:
...over and over again, constantly, and forever. If you
stopped, he would gradually become disturbed and have
a severe psychological attack. But if you kept drawing
the little symbol, he was calm and peaceful, like a wave
washing over him. Silence. Then, a few seconds later..
“Crossing lights...Crossing lights please...“ I filled up
probably thirty sheets of paper like this. Tragically, the
entire camp was burnt down last year in the California
wildfires. I am working on a fundraiser to help them rebuild everything.
Megazord: What is it about the fungal world?
Andy: The theme began as NSFW - nasty slimy fungus worship. In food chains, mushrooms
act as decomposers. So, as artists, we can relate to that. Many are familiar with
that slimy, rotten feeling of feeding off the waste and decay around you. In
addition, many have had a glimpse of the mysterious animal/plant/energy psychic
network that seems to bind our consciousness together. Mushrooms are doing all
kinds of wild shit in terms of enabling plants to communicate, and who knows what
else. Our mission here is to slime out, multiply, and amplify. There couldn’t be a
better time.
Q+A with Andy Morin
3

4
Untitled_project.psd <churchonacid.info>

John Garcia <johngarciastudio.com> 5

6
@ludaghost

Gareth Clark “Spiritual Germination” @sane.flesh 7

8
Gareth Clark “Mother Muscaria” @sane.flesh

Gareth Clark “Mycelium Mesh” @sane.flesh 9

10
tyBB “torno-me eles e não eu.” @tybr_place

Colic plumes swelter unbowed hate,
recourse,
hearts inshrined - death waits.
For the fungus festers,
onward and thither,
pompous patriarchs follow then dither.
Ficus fields!
The green pillage’s fate;
but plain,
to imagine the dirt that binds the ape.
Watervhs “World of Fungus” 11

12
Riley Urbano

“Typical Shrooms” @krashhash 13

14
“Propagation 1” @a2b2cultist

“Propagation 2” @a2b2cultist 15

Totalitarian
Liberalism
by Liliana Limpidă
Whereas most experienced the 1970s as a decade of chaos,
crime, and confusion, for a small and devoted study
group of economists, academics, and businesspeople,
it was a golden opportunity. For almost 15 years, they had been
developing a return to classical liberalism without the pitfalls that
had led to its demise, and finally, with the collapse of the Keynesian
consensus, they saw their opportunity to enact it. Every text
written about neoliberalism has to define it and redefine it into
oblivion. It is constantly changing; as many versions of it exist as
there are countries on earth. It is the global market system, where
everything and everyone is a commodity to be bought and sold
and discarded and destroyed.
The original neoliberals saw the world in simple terms:
If it cannot survive in a market environment, then it shouldn’t exist
-- people and public institutions alike. The state would retain
only two major functions: Protecting the market from threats to
its existence and expanding the market as far into our everyday
lives as possible. The state would retain the economic powers it
endowed itself with under Keynesianism in order to prop up key
industries whose failure could trigger a total economic collapse.
This also necessitated a massive military-industrial complex, both
to protect against domestic civil unrest as well as to destabilize
and conquer nations refusing to integrate into the global market.
Competing economic systems pose a problem for the market. In
order for capitalism to sustain itself, the market economy must
grow infinitely, which is functionally impossible. Once hard limits
to growth are reached and economic stability is threatened, the
only way to keep expanding is to ruthlessly destroy all existing
reservoirs of capital to provide a justification for generating more.
War is not only highly efficient to this end, it serves the additional
function of battering 20th century nationalist holdouts into complete
submission to the new world order, eliminating the market’s
ideological opponents and pushing the hard limits to growth
slightly into the future.
Neoliberalism has a unique quirk that allows it to
lay deep mycelial roots in all of us, a quirk not found in other
totalitarian systems. Fascists and communists relied on people’s
devotion to the collective, to the party, to the state; neoliberals
prefer individualism. We have a paralyzing abundance of personal
choice in areas of life that don’t matter in order to mask the
fact that we have no say in the big decisions that do. An absurd
amount of individual responsibility is laid at our feet, especially
when it comes to problems that have social origins and require an
organized collective response, such as poverty or climate change.
In projecting this ideological framework, neoliberalism is able
to slip just below the radar of consciousness. It cloaks itself in
a billion brands, a billion diversions, a billion smiling faces. It
rarely makes itself known directly. Its propaganda is aerosolized
through a dizzying multitude of advertisements, content creation,
and worryingly, individuals themselves. It is so pernicious, so
insidious, that some of the most radical neoliberals alive today
don’t realize they’re neoliberals. They may believe themselves to
be progressives, nationalists, leftists, traditionalists, even communists!
They see the ever-multiplying crises caused by market
activity and can only think to respond with extreme solutions to
protect the market from its own excesses, wrapped in the utopian
rhetoric of long-dead political forces to mask the existing ones
they actually serve.
We are prisoners in Plato’s Cave, constantly inhaling the
spores of neoliberal ideology, convinced that the hallucinatory
shadows they conjure are reality, never knowing the true nature
of the world behind them. The possibility of freedom under any
form of liberalism has been disproven. Rest assured, there are
solutions to be found, but they can only be discovered through
careful, cautious analysis of our current conditions. Immediate,
decentralized, disorganized action produces no answers, only
more prisoners. Leaving the cave and breathing the clean air of a
new and unfamiliar world is a fraught, jarring, alien experience.
It’s only natural, but most will be content watching the shadows,
and may even fight for their right to stay in the cave. Unfortunately,
the only way to break everyone out is to do so forcefully,
through vigor and discipline and without regret or remorse. There
is no freedom in merely recognizing our bondage, nor in loudly
but impotently thrashing ourselves against our chains. A detailed
map still needs drawing before anyone can even dream of leaving.
Skip that step, and escape is just another shadow the spores have
convinced you is real.
For those interested in acquainting themselves further
with neoliberal theory, I recommend Road to Serfdom by Friedrich
Hayek and The End of History and the Last Man by Francis
Fukuyama. For those interested in a more critical perspective, A
Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey and Capitalist
Realism by Mark Fisher. For the inner workings of capitalism
overall, I recommend The Marx-Engels Reader edited by Robert
C. Tucker (though I strongly recommend the full texts from which
this primer is compiled), as well as Imperialism, the Highest
Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin. I must stress that each of
these readings should be approached critically and scientifically,
not passively or dogmatically. Read carefully and at your own
risk.
16
Liliana Limpidă “Totalitarian Liberalism “

Ken Taylor “Neon Mushrooms and Roses” @_kennethtaylor 17

Propagation 3 - CREDIT @ a2b2cultist
18
“Propagation 3” @a2b2cultist

T 19

20
Rainan Fernandes

“Monkshroom” @floraison.inc 21

22
“Moon Based” @technoprotest

Kevin Naylor 23

24
“Fungal Wizard” @greezlygrips

Ratfucker (aka Baxter) “this is a nightmare!” 25

26
Nichole Fitch “Portal for Mortals” @nicholefitch

Slum “Precurse” 27

28
“Shrooms” @matthewsmakings

Kerpudha
by Ani Boja
There is something oh so interesting about decay.
In fact, it’s been trotting around my chasm for a while,
the howls of thoughts echo back and forth off the boundaries of my head.
It reminds me of the spores that taint my bread,
leaving a stain on my tongue that haunts me for years to come,
it detains me in my cell and reminds me that once the mushroom spores grow, they cannot be removed.
Of course, one could decide to consume the area around the swampy growth, around that filthy detritus,
but with the fungus gone, the bread is longer what it was.
All that remains is a brown slab that wishes to emulate what they used to be.
Free are the spores that Phthisis and Apollo released into the world.
One of those is a little toadstool, that rests in the confines of my garden, dressed up in a suit of mud and
waste.
The mushroom made haste to take over the fallen tree that had expired, setting up shop atop the failure
of a tree trunk. Its forefathers look down upon the little fellow, how it could not support the weight of its
existence, and crumbled, letting itself be ruined by the fungal colony, pillaging.
The toadstool, however sits proudly atop its throne of rotten bark.
It thrives off it. Funny that a toadstool using a tree as its stool.
I gaze at the mess, a fool manipulated by the wonders of decay. T
he cycle of rebirth leading to a deserved demise.
A hair falls from my head. I incise a mark upon my scalp as I grasp more clumps of wiry hair.
The skin peels of my face, suffering the drought of meaning.
I tried to remove the toadstool. it worked. I thought it did. I promise. I didn’t slack. The spores were meant
to be gone.
But it grows back. The disease hangs on for dear life. It will never leave me.
No matter how hard I try the pestis continues to cling on to me.
Maybe the mushrooms aren’t the problem...
Ani Boja “Kepudha” @aniboja99
29

30
EyedArgus “as a feather in orbit.”

Daniel Um “Mycelium Running” @danielum90 31

32
Rowan Draper “Gordy on a Good Day” @rowd.art

Rowan Draper “Silence” @rowd.art 33

34
Sterling Wells <sterlingwells.info>

“Drowned” @vxnishedgum 35

36 “Mycology” @bonk

“Forage” @bonk 37

38
“Fungicide” @amityvillebb

“Shroom Milkshake” @marcym3w 39

40
Leg Jit “Behind the Cigar Shoppe”

L “Ritual” @l.8.l.8.l.8.l 41

42
Cody Morgan “Mushrooms”

Pure Fantasy “La donna e i funghi” @prfntsy 43

44
@mother_fine

Evan Wayne @evnwyn 45

46
@princess42

@princess42 47

48
GFXSLYR @graphixslayer

Terry x Yandhi “Sawcon” 49

No Trouble Mushroom Oatmeal
The first time I did magic mushrooms, my whole world view changed. Then one day I tried savory oatmeal and
everything radically changed again. After years of experimenting, this original recipe is my favorite breakfast. Even though
I’ve kept it simple, one fungal ingredient here might scare some people: Nutritional Yeast, or “nooch” as I like to call it.
Some people describe the flavor as cheesy or nutty, but if you ask me, those people haven’t tasted cheese or nuts so nevermind
that. It’s tasty in the right recipe though, and that’s this one here. You may never want sweet oatmeal again. The
following serves one.
Ingredients
⅓ c Old-fashioned Oatmeal (40g)
8 mid-size White Mushrooms, sliced (150g)
¼ c Nutritional Yeast (“nooch”) (20g)
¼ tsp Salt
1-2 pinches Black Pepper
⅔ c Water (165g)
1 Tbsp oil
Instructions
Add oil, butter, or cooking spray to your saucepan over
medium heat. Add the mushrooms and stir frequently. It might
seem like a lot of mushrooms for one person at first, but they will
cook down. They will be nearly done when they are all slightly browned. Turn off the heat. In your bowl, add the water to
the oats and nuke it for two minutes. Once it’s done, stir in the nooch, salt and pepper. You might also stir in a little water
or milk to thin it down. Then add the cooked mushrooms and stir. That’s it.
The thing about mushrooms is that they’re like a flavor-sponge and they will absorb whatever they’re cooked with.
So there are some optional things you can do to level it up. I like to add onions or chives, for example. There’s another
ingredient that can elevate the flavor too: a pinch of MSG (chances are it won’t kill you). Other variations might include
sausage, or black beans and Frank’s hot sauce. Get creative and make it your own!
50
“No Trouble Mushroom Oatmeal” @high.flying.assets

Alex Borrego “Subconscious Melody” @brownyuio 51

52
Joe Kelly “Eternal Recurrence” @revealednoumenality

Joe Kelly “Liminal Dragon” @revealednoumenality 53

54
Anathema Mundi

Genevieve Rust “Spore Print” @feebleflesh 55

Mushroom Food
by bonk
Dearest reader, I welcome you to an opinionated
editorial column focused on fungus and flavour.
As a frequent explorer of Canadian forests and the
culinary delights that are to be found there, I have come to
cherish in particular the humble mushroom. Much lauded
by chefs for their deep earthy flavours, many look to the
truffle as king among mycelial fruits. While truffles may be
king in dishes to be served on white linen table cloths, in my
kitchen I prefer otherwise. Wild-foraged mushrooms offer
far more interesting textures and flavours than those to be
found in the fine dining world and stocking grocery-store
aisles. As such, I have compiled a brief guide to a few of
my favourite fairly foragable and occasionally overlooked
mushrooms to be found and enjoyed at your own risk.
Chanterelles: Likely my favourite mushroom to
hunt, chanterelle mushrooms can be found across most of
the world, and are quite common in the mixed deciduous/
evergreen forest covering the region of Canada I find
myself in. Interestingly, not much success has been had
in farming them; to enjoy chanterelles without maiming
your chequing account, foraging is the way to go. These
lovely golden-yellow shrooms grow in clusters and are
easy to spot, making it possible to bag quite a few in an
outing. Chanterelles are lovely in many dishes; I most
often tear them up roughly and brown them in duck fat (or
with guanciale lardons) with thyme to form the base of a
white wine and chicken stock sauce that pappardelle can
be added to the pan al dente, and finished in. Fall comfort
food doesn’t get much better than such a pasta, heaped
in pecorino and generously dusted in fresh ground black
pepper.
Hen of the Woods: Hen of the woods, also known
by their Japanese name maitake, are perennial and can
be found growing in the same place for many years. The
fruiting bodies grow from a tuberous structure underground
and exhibit as frilly clusters of brown-gray caps, usually
found growing symbiotically at the base of oaks. They are
among my favourite mushrooms on account of their superb
woodsy flavour. They are best cooked until well browned. I
often use them alongside chanterelles in pasta dishes, or on
their own in a similar context.
Black Morels: An intriguing looking mushroom,
and one to be hunted with more wariness and
circumspection than the other two I’ve listed. The black
morel’s caps can range from long and thin like a thimble
to moderately wide. They have a dark pitted, brain-like
texture to their caps, joined to a white stem, and the entire
mushroom is hollow (distinguishing it from temptingly
similar but inedible impostors). These mushrooms are
excellent for cooking but tough to find. Notably, morels are
particularly risky as they are usually poisonous raw, and can
sometimes have adverse interactions when consumed with
alcohol. These risks aside, black morels are delicious and
a very interesting mushroom to look at. I don’t tend to spot
too many true black morels, but when I do it’s a rare treat. I
particularly like to confit them in butter.
Reader, I implore you to peruse your local
mycological offerings. Foraging for mushrooms requires
care and experience to mitigate the multitude of risks
associated with it; thus, tread carefully and at your own risk,
but I exhort you to hunt at the very least with your camera
if not your fork. The fungal world is surely strange and
titillating to the eye –– though no less to the palate, for those
who might dare.
-G. B.
56
bonk “Mushroom Food”

Matt Copson “Sculpture With Growths” 57

58
Ben Noam “Mushroom #1 2021” @wolf_noam

Luke Champi “MUSHROOMS / THE FUNGAL WORLD” @decommodification 59

60
Kat Liu “see u in the afterlife”

Ronald Hempseed “Spore Mitigation” 61

Prince Toadstool
I
don’t have any unique insight on the
mushroom cultivation process that cannot
be found elsewhere. If one lacks access
to purchasing them through illicit means
then a small monetary investment and a little
motivation will go a long way. The cultivation
process and psychedelic experiences have
helped me in becoming a more patient,
thoughtful and creative person.
Operating outside the boundaries of
the law is certainly not my preference, however,
I firmly believe the psychedelic experience is
necessary and should be more accessible to
those who wish to seek it out. The developing
research surrounding psychedelics as well as
the noticeable shift in public perception give
me promise that we’ll someday live in a more
free society. Societal change takes a long time
and I hope to be a useful participant in it’s
inevitability.
62
Prince Toadstool

Ouro Boros @fyredup.123 63

64
“Meddlers Episode 1 - Unfair” @husninjan

“Meddlers Episode 1 - Unfair” @husninjan 65

66
“Meddlers Episode 1 - Unfair” @husninjan

“Meddlers Episode 1 - Unfair” @husninjan 67

68
@hellospiral

unsplash “<<FUNGU5>>” @l0nsett 69

70
“mooshroom cow but more epic” @lovelesss_666

Nestor Peixoto Aballe 71

72
@schwane_obtained_the_tea

Genevieve Rust “20 Jazz Funk Greats” @feebleflesh 73

74
Klinck “Mushroom Hat”

Ramblings of an Urban
Mushroom Hunter by Blaise Krueger
I
began with a primal urge to find very specific fungi -
mostly Chanterelles, Oyster Mushrooms, Morels, and the
enigmatic ‘Magic Mushrooms’. But with time, mushroom
hunting spawned within me a heightened awareness of how
things fit together.
When you’ve been urban mushroom hunting
for a while, you start seeing more than just mushrooms;
the ecosystems hidden between buildings begin to reveal
themselves to you. Finding mushrooms means knowing
the trees they live under, or what wood they eat (typically
dead wood, though many species, such as Armillaria mellea,
aka the Honey Mushroom, have a thing for living trees).
Instead of navigating the dense, indiscriminately-intentional
municipality of an old-growth forest, urban hunting means
navigating the sometimes brutalistic aesthetic choices of
gardeners and city planners. What trees they plant, what
mulch they use, or whether they fill non-walking space with
coniferous bark or shredded aspen, will tell you what species
of mushrooms might grow. I doubt mushrooms cross the
mind of most gardeners, landscapers, or bureaucrats making
these decisions. At least ‘weeds’ are actively prevented.
Mushrooms usually don’t even get that kind of attention.
I have unexpectedly found myself offended when
these urban ecosystems are disrupted. This fall, one
particular park near my apartment exploded with Psilocybe
cyanescens, a caramel-capped, blue-bruising magic
mushroom which is beloved to me for its physical appearance
alone. Patches of cyanescens fruiting bodies bursted from
mounds of mulch surrounding park shrubbery. Day by day
during my walks in this park, I noticed many were being
picked before reaching their rightful maturity, which is
typically a scorned practice in the urban mushroom hunting
community since a mushroom needs to mature to release
spores and breed (A mushroom is like a flower for the fungus
below it). Worst of all, gaps in the mulch formed where wood
chips had disappeared, dug out by mushroom gatherers to
presumably take cyanescens’s habitat home with them.
I had to remind myself that the ecological niche
that these woodloving mushroom species have found is
born from our human obsession with controlling our urban
habitats by destroying what was there before. Psilocybe
cyanescens fruit around our houses, civic buildings, and
parks in massive quantities. They ended up there by infecting
the landscaping wood chip supply chain, an ingenious
adaptive strategy. Without the human-made
habitats of parks like this one, Psilocybe
cyanescens and its relatives would be a rare
sight. Mycologists aren’t even sure of their
original habitat, but it’s assumed it was
limited. They are truly symbiotic with the
existence of human civilization.
I’m not sure how this impacts my feelings
about urbanization. Perhaps it is a process
as natural as what came before it. Either way,
an old world was destroyed to build another.
But some of the organisms that proliferate in
our new world are truly inspiring, seemingly
intent on interacting with us and our minds.
Blaise Krueger “Ramblings of an Urban Mushroom Hunter”
75

76
Noah Grant

“facial recognition pandamonium” @blankcellzero 77

78
Jon Rafman “The Restroom” @jonrafman

Jon Rafman “The Restroom” @jonrafman 79

80
Jon Rafman “America is 2021” @jonrafman

Jon Rafman “Death of Satan” @jonrafman 81

82
Jon Rafman “Dung Architect” @jonrafman

Jon Rafman “Bubble Bath 2021” @jonrafman 83

84
Jon Rafman “Go Away 2021” @jonrafman

Jon Rafman “My Hell” @jonrafman 85

86
Jon Rafman “The Guardian 2021” @jonrafman

Jon Rafman “Every Single Moment” @jonrafman 87

88
Tyler Carr “DogWearing FunnyHat”

Ghoulia “Untitled” @reddwarfsun 89

90
Robert Möllard

Carter Holsten @carterholsten 91

Fruiting Bodies
by Stanley Rogers
Last summer I worked for a landscaping
company in a small town built on the
intersection of two highways. It was
primarily a truck stop, but it had a stable year
round population of around one-thousand. The
town had a superficiality comparable to Grand
Junction, CO, but there was only one grocery
store here.
The company I worked for operated out
of a leased lot, stockpiled with the owners scrap
that we couldn’t get rid of. The only buildings
were a Connex we used for storage, and a shed
where my superiors did paperwork. All our
work was outside and almost none of it required
brain power. The best days were when it didn’t
rain.
Housing was not offered, and being from out of
town, I decidedly sleeped in my car and did so
for months. But as I wanted to stretch my legs
at night again, I set up my pad in an abandoned
trailer. I finally had space to change clothes
while standing up, which was nice, but I caught
a ringworm that grew to the size of a grapefruit.
No big issue though, I just had to buy some
Athlete’s Foot cream, but it was back to the car
for me.
There wasn’t a lot to do in that town
besides work and drink, so I was appreciative
of the twelve hour days that kept me busy. I
walked a trail dotted with rusted cars and
burn barrels that led to an abandoned military
landfill scattered with buried vats of gnarly
chemicals. Most of its chain link fence was cut
away by the townsfolk for their own property.
Deeper in the woods where the forest was
healthy, Chaga grew up the Birch trees, Morrells
feasted on burn scars, and the soil was rich with
microbial life that almost writhed when dug up.
It was a good place to be alone.
Later in the season, our company was
contracted for a job out of state, which was
exciting for all of us. Not only did it mean more
hours, but we got to camp at the work site and
eat company provided food. Another perk
was that we were on a cattle ranch, and could
regularly find mushrooms growing from cow
patties; all were promptly thrown at the nearest
coworker’s face.
After that gig ended we returned
home and called it quits for the year. I drove a
coworker back to the city when his car wouldn’t
start and no one sold car batteries in that God
forsaken town.
I’m not one to overreach trying to
create a narrative, but I’ll give a few words of
appreciation to keep within the theme. Whether
living in nature, the kitchen, or infecting our
skin, fungi are a part of us. I don’t know what
the future of fungal discovery will hold, but
even if we already know all that we will ever
know, I’ll still be impressed, because fungi are
dope, even if they make my groin itch.
92
Stanley Rogers “Fruiting Bodies”

Blaise Krueger 93

94
Travis Weber

Ahmer Yasin “Tea Pots” @yeahseenit 95

96
“Third Eye of the Beholder” @kenzieregan

Midge ‘Mantissa’ Sinnaeve “Lichen 1” <mantissa.xyz> 97

My Girlfriend Is Beautiful, I Wanna Dress Like Her
Caesar Rune
My girlfriend is beautiful, I wanna dress like her
I daydream at the ceiling
thinking bout them hoop earrings and cool ass eyeliner
I wanna dress like her
There’s nothing stopping me
There’s everything stopping me
I wanna dress like her
My girlfriend is beautiful
Am I beautiful?
98
Caesar Rune “My Girlfriend Is Beautiful, I Wanna Dress Like Her”

Kaelen Williams “Mushroom” 99

100
“Inhale the Spores” @amityvillebb

Nicole Strubinski “Mushroom Pizza” @cherrifunfetti 101

102
@ushiembrace

@coachwash 103

104
Anasol Espinoza Araya “Húmedo y Obscuro” @tournesxl

Rowan Draper “In the Lawn” @rowd.art 105

106
Michael Quint “view of mushroom / fungal world 5661”

Nestor Peixoto Aballe 107

108
Rowan Draper “Mother and Son” @rowd.art

Moneki “toxic mushroom brain” 109

110
Niels Pahl “NPSHROOMS”

Rowan Draper “cyberhound” @rowd.art 111

112
Isabel Fish “cluster” @0_1010111

tyBB “the indeterminacy of hatching in the crust” @tybr_place 113

114
“mushroomhead” @listening2podcasts

TC “Brought To You By Softbank” 115

116
mengrl “scum” @mengrldotnet

Incessant Descent
by Evan Wayne
ensconcing itself into its cave,
entering in search for one’s escape.
bouncing scurrilous thoughts from each skull wall.
murmuring enigmatically with no returning call.
gasping cry’s, three strained eyes.
cynically questioning if sanity is nigh.
instilling ideas of facade.
no strangers are present to give their nods.
cocking cognizance disguised as ammo.
delving ever deeper into it’s grotto.
without aim, the trigger lay wait,
no target in sight, the weapon void of mandate.
infinitely caving, an eternal plunge.
an inward rewire, sentience pursues to blunge,
echoed soliloquy.
far past vanity.
darkness empty of conceit.
eliminated self, all along,
never being a dawning.
the image of who entered now escapes—
you?
now rest cold and helpless, entirely perdurable.
begging for equanimity, although being insuperable.
soaked raw in puddles of petrol,
marinating in shallow pools of pain.
any trickle now absent.
sealed of all leaks, gash’s, slits, and punctures.
mended and scarred by fresh breathing flesh.
birthed a blank, new naked canvas.
an abandoned self,
forsaken fetus.
no lust nor notion,
all insensate.
lay still, inert,
by this be fate.
with apathetic detachment depriving perception.
in attempt to sow primal thoughts of conception
the hollow shell, empty vessel of meat
again conjures the thought of seek
upon the rusted rails that set forth,
the locomotive’s steam spurts above.
lacking a motive, yet begins to chug.
once an amnion of ignorance,
now tender, untapped existence.
at long last, a naive vacant cradle.
only to repeat this
relentless,
endless,
cycle.
Evan Wayne “Incessant Descent”
117

118
David T. “whisper in ur ear”

Meybel Guzman “Psychedelic” 119

120
Misplaced Lines “Death Cap Field” @misplacedline

“Specters of the Spore” @Poley 121

Miss Conduct,
May I....?
Introducing A2B2’s resident Sex and Relationship Advice
Columness Extraordinaire: Miss Conduct! Have a question
for MC? Visit a2b2.org/missconduct
“Miss Conduct, may I ask for your advice? I’m
looking to find a femdom, however, it seems impossible
to find someone who’s into it locally. Even on a website
like fetlife, there’s barely anyone registered to the site
that’s near me that’s interested in it. Any tips on finding
people locally who are into the same kinks I am? Thank
you for considering my question and I hope you have a
day as lovely as you are. Sincerely, Would-Be-Sub”
Dear Would-Be-Sub: I hope for both of your sakes
that when you do find your femdom, they will be wise
enough to teach you the difference between obedience and
obsequiousness. Next time, dear one, spare your mistress
the brown-nosing flattery. Now, to your inquiry: I must
applaud you for expressing and pursuing your submissive
desires with such keen clarity and determination. I urge
you, however, to open your approach ever slightly. It is
possible that your ideal femdom does not yet know they
harbour the desire and capacity to fulfill such a noble
purpose. There are many in this wide, wonderful world
who possess a desire to explore kink, yet have not narrowed
in on their inclinations as concisely as you have. Try this:
write out a brief, thoughtful bio that can be inserted into a
slew of dating profiles, expressing that you are kink-positive,
and seeking a partner who is open to exploration. You may
be as specific or vague as you please, but know, my children,
that respectfully stating specific sexual proclivities on a
digital dating platform (or in person, for that matter) is just
as valid as listing one’s interest in, say, “travel” and, in this
mistress’s opinion, much more advantageous. Alternatively:
Have you considered engaging a professional for their
femdom services? Unfortunately, we live in a culture that
devalues and criminalizes sex work; but professional sexworkers
provide an invaluable, inimitable service. Working
with a professional may give you the tools you need to
better understand your role as a sub, and can introduce
you to crucial information, resources and communities.
Consider setting aside some money and heading for the
nearest metropolis - a night in a hotel with the femdom
of your dreams could be a worthwhile investment. Happy
hunting, Would-Be-Sub! -MISS CONDUCT
(P.S. A note, my children: in this Country at least, when you
engage the services of such a professional, it is only their
time you may pay for. If you seek to hire a professional, do
so discreetly, respectfully and without so much as a tinge of
shame. <3 MC)
122
Miss Conduct, May I...?

Miss Conduct,
May I....?
“Miss Conduct, may I know the secrets to kissing? I feel
sometimes inadequate in my performance and I humbly ask
for your guidance. Yours, sadlips”
Dear sadlips: Your earnest inquiry into the secrets of
oral entanglement has stirred your mistress’s cold, forbidding
heart. Take note, children - the admission of uncertainty is the
first step to stoking the flames of libidinous passion! Now, pet,
to the issue at hand: when it comes to kissing, it is too often
force which guides lovers’ lips. Led by excitement, the amateur
kisser may opt to suck with eagerly pursed lips - to dart and dig
with probing tongue - to drive forward with increasing pace
and intensity…! But patience and gentleness are the marks of
a truly great lover. Do not rush, but rather, listen: how is your
partner responding to your touch? Be tender: With lips barely
parted, you may meet the softness of your lover’s lips; With slow,
worshipful intention, you may brush your searching mouth
across the downy skin of their neck, and plant a soft kiss on each
of their eyelids; with hot breath, you may whisper your wanton
desires, and bite at their ear-lobes, ever gently. Then, only then,
may you open your mouth to theirs; may you slowly encircle
their tongue with yours; may you invite them to respond in kind
to each tender exploration. If you take the initiative to listen and
respond, my sweet, and lead always with softness: you’ll be well
on your way to uncovering the secrets to kissing (and, indeed,
to all great love-making) for yourself. And don’t be fooled - it
is often the softest starts that give way to love’s most brutal
carnalities. Even a bone-chilling lashing begins with the gentle
caress of the cat-o-nine tails - now, smile, sadlips, smile. -MISS
CONDUCT
Dear Friend Zone: As far as your mistress is concerned,
the flight of fantasy has free rein, and may not be contained.
There are no fantasies - no matter how seemingly taboo - that
are inherently wrong, or bad, or immoral. It is rather the way
one acts on one’s fantasies that determines a person’s moral
character. For this reason, and this reason alone, the mistress
is displeased by your inquiry. Implied in your question is a
lingering reek of cowardice. This growing guilt you feel, it is
not guilt at all, but rather: fear. You fear being rejected by your
friend, and therefore, your desire has manifested itself as shame.
You must be brave, child! You may say to your friend: “I am not
asking you for anything, but because I value our friendship, I
feel it is right to express the feelings that have grown in me.” A
true friend will welcome honesty without expectation. If they do
not return your feelings, and you still feel desire for them, then
you will be able to experience your fantasy as just that - a fantasy.
But: your bravery may open the door to greater possibilities than
you ever imagined. It is far better to know where you stand, dear
ones, than to ever wonder, “What if?” Buck up, Friend Zone,
and once you’ve faced your fear, know that your mistress will
accept without reservation any heretical iteration of fantastical
desires your salacious little mind may dare to dream up. -MISS
CONDUCT
“Miss Conduct, may I masturbate while thinking about
my friend whom I’m deeply in love with? I can’t help having
these fantasies, and it’s starting to make me feel guilty every
time I see my friend. Am I bad? Is this immoral? Or, if not
immoral - is it a bit creepy? I don’t know what to do, mistress,
please help me. With handsy uncertainty, Friend Zone.”
Miss Conduct, May I...?
123

124
Taliesin Mayne @10th.of.the.tenth

Created by
Andy Morin
with the A2B2 Zine Team:
Roundy
b
Poley
goi
TerryDev
a2b2cultist
bonk
Staff
125

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