Moldy Tombs, Feces, Corpses, and the Business of Fungal Decay

Illustrated Talk by sculpture artist Sam Shoemaker, a 2026 LW Fellow, whose work is a collaboration between himself and living fungi. First presented at the Museum September 13, 2026.

Co-hosted by HLFM director Pierce Rafferty and Nate Malinowski, executive director of Lighthouse Works

Based on his extensive experience with mushrooms, this lecture investigates the companies leading this emerging market, examining what they promise and where enthusiasm for fungal sustainability runs up against the limits of biology. Along the way, the lecture takes several anthropological detours through the history of our relationship to fungal decay.

Sam Shoemaker is a Los Angeles-based sculpture artist whose work is a collaboration between himself and living fungi. Shoemaker’s work has been shown at Craft Contemporary, Fulcrum Arts, Armory Center for the Arts, Vielmetter, David Horvitz’s Garden, Make Room, Emma Gray HQ, and OCHI, among others. He was also included in World Without End: The George Washington Carver Project at the California African American Museum, an official exhibition of PST ART: Art & Science Collide presented by Getty. Shoemaker has been featured in many publications and news outlets, including the Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Galerie Magazine, W Magazine, Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, and Graphite. He lives and works in Los Angeles and is represented by OCHI. Shoemaker has led numerous mushroom cultivation workshops across Southern California, at venues including Art Center College of Art and Design, Yucca Valley Material Lab, Otis College, College of the Redwoods, Vielmetter, Claremont Botanical Garden, Pitzer College, South Coast Botanic Garden, and Hahamongna Native Plant Nursery.