Slime Mold Look development

Software Houdini 20+ / Karma
Deliverables Lookdev experiments both still and animated
Agency Van Veen & Mus

Artist duo Van Veen & Mus commissioned a lookdev exploration of digital slime mould, to be used as backdrop visuals for a stage production.

The work required building a custom algorithm in Houdini that mimics both space colonisation patterns and the hunting behaviour of real physarum polycephalum. The organism can be art directed by adjusting its behaviour and the placement of food sources it moves toward. Colour, density, and growth rate were all controllable parameters, allowing a wide range of visual outcomes from the same underlying system.