Nottingham basement exhibition lets mold and fungi consume artworks throughout 2021

International House of Grot presents an unconventional exhibition where artworks are deliberately subjected to biological decay in a Nottingham cellar. Located in Sneinton district, this year-long project features works by Craig David Parr, Faye Hadfield, Chloe Langlois, Adam Grainger, and James St Findlay that are being consumed by mold, fungi, and bacteria. The exhibition runs throughout 2021 with physical access restricted until a year-end opening, forcing viewers to experience the works through periodic Instagram updates. These digital glimpses reveal gradual biodegradation as artworks like Hadfield's ceramic sculpture 'Rotten Pot' and Langlois's paper piece 'Accursed Underbelly Clown Mystery' undergo transformation. Grainger's digital prints 'Tower' and 'Immortal' already appear deteriorated with dissolving pixels, while Findlay's 'Pregnant Scarecrow' contains planted spores intended for fungal growth. The project challenges traditional preservation norms by privileging non-human biological agents over human spectators, creating what curator Alexander Mobbs-Iles describes as an unnerving experience that questions anthropocentric art viewing. Operating without public funding in the East Midlands context, the exhibition explores themes of decay, isolation, and alternative agency through its damp basement setting. The Instagram account @international_house_of_grot provides the only access to the evolving works until their December exhumation.