This audio paper traces the history of The Chronic Illness, an underground event series rooted in London’s alternative art scene, and its core venue, The Dungeon of Polymorphous Pan—located in the basement of a formerly squatted bookshop on Holloway Road.

 

The first part offers a glimpse into the building’s occupation history and follows the early conversations and collaborative experiments led by curator Fung Neo, which culminated in the creation of the first Chronic Illness event.

In the second part, presented as an in-depth interview with Fung Neo, we explore the event and venue within the broader context of London’s squatting culture, examining how these spaces have influenced his ongoing PhD research into the intersections of fungi, post-internet aesthetics, and performance art.

 

The final section takes listeners inside The Chronic Illness XX, the most recent edition of the event, capturing the atmosphere through spontaneous interviews with attendees and key resident performers as they reflect on their encounters with Polymorphous Pan and its rituals of decay, mutation, and collective transformation.

 

Throughout the audio paper, a soundscape composed of field recordings from The Chronic Illness XX, alongside audio excerpts from archival videos and rehearsals at The Dungeon of Polymorphous Pan (2016–present), immerses the listener in the venue’s evolving sonic ecosystem.

​

The audio paper was featured on Threads Radio in January 2024.