Consumers are turning to sensory experiences to help detox from digital living and re-engage with their bodies, a theme we have been exploring for some time, and a need that remains prevalent in the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdowns.
Slime ‘therapy’ has a new home with the September reopening of Manhattan-based Sloomoo Institute, an experiential destination dedicated to slime play. “Playing with slime actually releases dopamine in your brain and makes you feel good,” co-founder Sara Schiller told Fast Company. The Sloomoo Institute is influenced by fellow co-founder Karen Robinovitz’s experience with tactile therapy after experiencing grief and trauma. Slime play engages all five senses, making the Sloomoo Institute appealing to visitors across the neurodiversity spectrum.
Executed by New York-based studio Method Design, the venue draws inspiration from contemporary artists, such as a slime splatter wall influenced by Yayoi Kusama’s sticker-clad Obliteration Room. The intention is to attract adults and children alike to benefit from soothing sensory play. Two new Sloomoo Institutes are slated for opening in Chicago and Atlanta later this month.
Elsewhere, Do Touch by Design Academy Eindhoven student Eva Lotta Landskron takes tactile therapy further, using slime manipulation to help consumers explore and challenge their worldviews. Debuted at this year’s Dutch Design Week, the project cautions against political and social alienation and binary thinking via malleable slime play, which is neither a liquid nor a solid.
