Mind control is real. You do it every day. Think of the last time you asked your parents for something big. Did you give them all the facts, lay out a complete rational argument, and let them analyze the data in their own time? Or did you appeal to their sympathies and nurturing instincts, adding a tinge of urgency in your language, altering your voice slightly to sound desperate and pathetic? You know these subtle cues will get to them and they'll end up giving you exactly what you want. People use this technique in almost every social interaction, and what it amounts to every time is Person A strategically arranging the brain state of Person B in order to change the behavior of Person B in order to benefit Person A.

Now when we substitute the human actors in these scenarios for animal ones, the Animal Kingdom becomes a stage for playing out these age-old survival interactions on the most visceral and elemental levels. Lacking any complex social or cognitive systems, simpler creatures like fungi must find more direct ways to control other creatures' minds to their benefit.

Enter Cordyceps Lloydii.

This fungus has evolved the ability to control the minds of the ants it infects. The process begins when the ant unwittingly ingests a spore of Cordyceps Lloydii as its walking along the forest floor. The spore makes its way through the ants body, eventually reaching the brain. Once in the brain, the spore begins to control the behavior of the ant who suddenly finds himself searching for the stalk of tall plant and climbing skyward. Fully under the control of the fungus in his brain, the ant impulsively climbs to the highest leaf where he grasps the leaf with all of his strength, his claws hardening with an uncontrollable expenditure of energy. At this moment, Cordyceps Lloydii enjoys the fruits of its labor.

A grotesque mushroom sprouts from the fungal mush that was once the ant's brain. Bursting from underneath the smooth surface of the ant's head, the long stalk extends skyward. Now, taking advantage of the healthy breeze available at such high altitudes, the stalk releases its fresh spores into the wind. Having served its purpose by helping the spore to this favorable altitude, the ant dies, adorned with the freakish funerary ornaments of its murderer. Carried by the wind, the spores drift to the forest floor where they will infect more ants.

Isn't that fucking crazy?!

Naturally, after becoming aware of Cordyceps Lloydii, I decided to dedicate my project to this horrible mind-controlling bastard of the Fungi World. I wanted to make a faithful recreation of the scene that would be visually impressive enough to evoke the same sensation I get from looking at that picture (linked above), specifically, "Holy shit. That is fucking crazy."

I made the model entirely out of organic material.

Ingredients:

• An eggplant
• A purple potato
• A red onion
• A few raspberries
• A sugarcane stalk
• A Portobello mushroom
• BBQ skewers
• Some sort of purple beans(?)
• Shiitake mushrooms
• A crab