Jae Rhim Lee

Jae Rhim Lee (born 1975 in Gwangju, South Korea) is an artist and TED Fellow working at the intersection of art, science, and culture. Lee aims to promote "acceptance of and a personal engagement with death and decomposition" by breeding a unique strain of mushroom that promotes environmentally friendly tissue decomposition upon death.

The native form of this personal name is Lee Jae-rhim. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

She earned a B.A. degree in psychology from Wellesley College (1998) and an M.S. degree in visual studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006).[1]

Infinity Burial Project

According to Lee, human bodies accumulate a large amount of toxins during their lifetime. Upon death, whether the body is cremated or buried, these toxins are released back into the environment.[2] The fungi have been chosen for their potential to utilize the nutrients in human tissue and to remediate industrial toxins in soil. Once realized, the "Infinity Mushroom" will be applied to the other components of the project.[3]

The mushrooms can be adapted to grow on the artist's own collected hair, nails and skin.[4] Eventually, a body suit will be developed that the deceased is wrapped in, which will promote decomposition.

References
  1. "Jae Rhim Lee" (PDF).
  2. "Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit". TEDGlobal 2011. TED.com. July 2011.
  3. "The Infinity Mushroom". InfinityBurialProject.com.
  4. Ridden, Paul (July 29, 2011). "Green burial project developing corpse-eating mushrooms". GizMag.com.
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