Ringaile Demsyte

My work explores how design can move beyond speed, efficiency, and control — values often reinforced by capitalist production systems. Inspired by fungal thinking and more-than-human perspectives, I work with living organisms to rethink design as a relational practice. Working with Physarum polycephalum (slime mould) invites me to slow down and pay attention to non-human forms of intelligence. Rather than treating nature as a resource or tool, I approach it as a collaborator that reshapes how I think, design, and observe.

I cultivate slime mould in small experimental environments using Petri dishes, agar, and food sources such as oats, yeast or coffee. Through daily care, observation, and time-lapse recording, I study how the organism moves, connects, and responds to different conditions. My experiments often begin with simple interventions, such as arranging food, materials, or spatial structures, and then observing how the organism reacts to the environment. Rather than forcing a specific result, I shape the conditions and allow the organism’s behaviour to guide the outcome.

The results include time-lapse videos and visual documentation created from these encounters. Audiences are invited to observe slime mould directly and consider design as a practice of attention, learning, and coexistence with other living systems.