Slime's Cultural Ascendancy: From Sartre's Disgust to Fashion's Obsession

Slime has emerged as a pervasive cultural material, bridging obsession and disgust, as explored in Susanne Wedlich's 2021 book 'Slime: A Natural History'. The text traces slime's philosophical and artistic significance, noting Patricia Highsmith's fascination with snails, which she smuggled across borders, and Jean-Paul Sartre's aversion to molluscs, linking it to his views on viscosity and femininity. Julia Kristeva's concept of the abject, from her 1980 work 'Powers of Horror', frames slime as something that disturbs boundaries and order. In contemporary culture, slime appears in fashion, such as Loewe's SS20 campaign with Steven Meisel's imagery of green slime and Ryohei Kawanishi's 2019 show where models were drenched in it. Instagram trends like #oddlysatisfying videos and influencers like @craftyslimecreator and Karina Garcia, who earns six figures monthly from slime content, highlight its commercial appeal. The art world engages with slime through artists like Jenna Sutela, Pauline Canavesio, and others who embrace bodily, messy themes. Historically, slime featured in mid-20th century films like 'The Blob' (1958) and 'The Fly', reflecting Cold War anxieties, while 1990s British TV shows like 'Live and Kicking' and 'Get Your Own Back' presented it as anarchic fun. Wedlich connects slime to broader concerns like microbial studies and green movements, suggesting its potential as a disruptive force against rigid borders and identities.