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Are you ready to embrace your inner slime? Well, that’s what Abi Palmer is encouraging at her latest exhibit at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff.
Slime Mother is her first solo exhibit, an immersive experience all about everyone’s least favourite garden pest the slug. She explores the idea of worshipping these slimy creatures and adapting aspects of their lifestyles.
The exhibit is inspired by Palmer’s written work ‘Slugs: A Manifesto’, which explores humanity as a place where people are more sluglike. The book and body of art on display advocate for the slimy gastropod honouring the resilience and strength of the creatures.
The showcase starts with a 7-minute film which prepares you for the rest of the exhibit and provides much-needed context. The feature shows many close-ups of the slugs and their slime which makes you feel slightly uncomfortable.
The exhibit continues through many different art forms. There are beautiful slug stained glass boxes, where a slug mother and baby replace the iconic Madonna and child. The religious iconography carried on throughout with slug-infested communion shoes and kneel cushions decorated with pearly slime.
The interactive aspect comes as a moist space where visitors are encouraged to indulge in their wetness. A massive dish stands upon a platform made of expanding foam full of slip, a concoction made of clay and water used in pottery. You are invited to submerge your hands in the goop and leave a trail on the walls like a slug.
The final room is the wackiest of them all, at first you think you are entering a slug disco with multiple sculptures hanging from the ceiling spinning while love songs from the likes of Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra and Eta James blast from the speakers above. It was only after reading about the room I realised I was in the middle of a Slug Orgy, with a disco ball representing their genitals which hang out when they reproduce. This was my favourite room. There are bean bags so you can relax and take in the huge slugs gracefully spinning.
Leaving this installation I definitely had questions. The moral of the exhibit is ‘Do not be afraid to slime’ which is most definitely portrayed and left me pondering how I can become more sluggy.
If you are in the area or have a spare afternoon Slime Mother is definitely worth checking out. The exhibit is free to view and is running in Chapter Arts until October 6th find out more here: https://www.chapter.org/whats-on/abi-palmer-slime-mother