BEYOND THE SEA

We experimented with algae, seaweed and sea grass. We brought the materials of the sea first into the workshops, then into (new) form(s) and finally into our everyday life. We sketched a world ‘beyond the sea’.

After a theoretical insight into the world of macroalgae, kelp and seaweed as well as an inspiring overview of current design positions on the potential of these materials, we investigated the properties of the materials practically, meticulously and experimentally. In a workshop safari, the seaweed was wound, laid, pressed, sewn, interwoven,… with machines unconventional for seaweed. The result was a matrix of various new material properties that served as a starting point for new products. Finally, the task was to ‘cover’ a self-selected, existing product – with the various tones and characteristics of the algae. Not only the properties of the new algae materials played a role, but also the aesthetic impact and the personal statement of the ‘interpreter’. At the end of the two weeks, the new products made of and with algae were presented and manifested in a video performance.