The Subjecthood of Slime Mould: modelling single-celled intelligence through living systems art

This PhD by Published Work presents a body of artistic research created by Heather Barnett working with the slime mould, Physarum polycephalum, a single-celled amoeba employed as a model organism within a wide range of disciplinary domains. The Physarum Experiments is an ongoing multifaceted enquiry examining nonhuman subjecthood, producing outputs in the form of artworks, methods for co-enquiry, and critical texts. Selected published works, produced predominantly between 2015 and 2019, are discussed in the context of theories, histories, and cultural frameworks drawn from biology, art, and philosophy.

The behavioural characteristics of slime mould embody emergent unpredictability, which is visually and aesthetically engaging, and performative in its articulation of the otherness of the nonhuman. Metaphorically, this enables a rich language that alludes to the complex interweaving of systems that we share and co-constitute with other forms of life. In emphasising the role of the nonhuman as both a subject and co-creator, the work connects in practice what contemporary posthumanities scholars argue is urgently needed in response to the planetary crises currently faced, arguing for the expanded consideration of systems thinking (Bennett), environmental response-ability (Haraway), posthuman knowledge (Braidotti) and ecological attunement (Morton).

Within the thesis the slime mould is defined, not merely as an epistemic thing (Rheinberger) but, as a material, relational and behavioural model – a biological analogue which, through the creation of artworks and experiences, provides a means of accessing nonhuman imaginings and speculative subjectivities. Slime mould ‘modelled’ in artistic contexts, it is argued, can help us attune to the character and capabilities of other forms of intelligent life and establish relational agency. Through the evidence provided within the portfolio and contextual commentary, the thesis argues that biological models employed in exploratory and interdisciplinary artistic enquiry can provide a vehicle through which we can re-evaluate anthropocentric subjectivities and expand interspecies epistemologies.