How can non-human organisms become part of the creative process?
This hands-on workshop introduces participants to the world of Physarum polycephalum also known as slime mould and its use within experimental design, bioart, and visual research.
Working directly with a living organism, participants will explore how slime mould grows, forms networks, and responds to its environment. This hands-on workshop reframes design as a collaborative practice between human and non-human systems, where care and observation shape the creative outcome. The session opens with an introduction to slime mould’s biological traits and its role in contemporary art and science, followed by a look at time-lapse recordings, research processes, and typography grown with living organisms. Finally, participants will learn the basics of cultivation using Petri dishes, agar, and oats, creating their own living experiment to take home and continue observing. It is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and rethink creativity as a practice of coexistence with other living systems.
Ringailė Demšytė is a designer and researcher exploring non-human intelligence and more-than-human perspectives. By cultivating Physarum polycephalum (slime mould) in small-scale laboratory setups, she moves beyond capitalist notions of speed, efficiency, and control. Rather than treating living organisms as tools, Demšytė approaches nature as an active collaborator—shaping conditions through simple interventions and allowing the organism's behaviour to guide the final output. Her work spans time-lapse video, experimental typography, and participatory workshops that invite audiences to rethink design as a practice of care, attention, and coexistence.
