Kombucha, rowing machine, IKEA childrens- furniture, LED light  

A human takes seat in their sports machine – a converted home training device. A large shell housing stretches around the seat of the rowing machine. Only the feet and hands can be seen, the body itself disappears behind the skin-like fibers of the kombucha fungus. It looks alien. A hybrid of oversized snail shell, engineered larva, and human legs. The exercises begin, the arms row, a dark pool of water is propelled. Benjamin Janzen combines performances, installations and biological experiments. Mushrooms are the common thread, they are material, but also the main actor and research interest.
Yeast fungi grow in the pool. Using the sports equipment heats the water and stimulates the growth of fungi. The sweat also brings moisture into the housing, which creates a favorable breeding ground for further fungal colonization.
A second filled basin, actually an Ikea baby seat, is also part of the installation. It ferments and foams in the breeding ground for new life. Sport and biotope are placed in symbiosis by the human body, which opens up new causal connections. The aspect of self-optimization through physical exercise in the sense of ideals of beauty and attractiveness is opposed to the ‘unattractive side effects’, i.e. sweating, bacteria and fungi, which are also found on human skin. They are just as much a part of our body as presentable muscle strength and vitality.