Oyster Matter

Every year, around 35 million oysters (Ostrea edulis) are harvested in the Netherlands for consumption in restaurants or at home. A ready-for-consumption oyster is up to 90% shell, which would otherwise naturally be left in the sea to slowly decompose as part of a reef breeding ground and play major role in preserving biodiversity. Yet the oyster is fundamentally important to us; it has played a strong role in early human culture, and even today, the remains of fossilized oyster shells mark the places of Stone Age habitation along the northern European coasts.

Despite new methods of oyster farming, the once widespread natural oyster reefs have failed to recover, and biologists are increasingly working to create opportunities to reintroduce the native European oyster on a large scale. This project aims to provide insights into how one, as a designer, can navigate such complex environments and circumstances. In order to explore the complex interplay between humans and oysters, the artist immersed himself in the culture and processes surrounding oyster farming while maintaining a material-oriented Research- through-Design approach. This allowed various connections between, with, and alongside oysters to emerge. With this, he speculates on the possibility of recycling oyster shell waste from restaurants to create artificial habitat structures for the North Sea for oysters and other life forms.