Material

Agar agar

By ,

Made in

Biodegradable 255 Circular 239 Plant-based 185 Recyclable 137 Vegan 98 Agar agar 23 Water 36

Agar agar
Agar agar
Agar agar
Agar agar
Agar agar
Agar agar

Photos: Yres Isabella

Soft Shucks

The project arises from an interest in recreating aesthetic implants with biodegradable material obtained from agar-agar (seaweed).

Soft shields, usually hidden under the skin, cause the observer to oscillate between temptation and repulsion. Between viscosity and agglomeration, naked flesh and designed shapes, the organic and the artificial, the freedom of power and populist criticism, abandonment and control. Everything becomes swollen and almost on the verge of breaking.

Beginning in 2019, the artists conducted studies on cosmetic surgery and medical silicone to be able to reproduce body implants for breasts and buttocks using biodegradable materials such as agar-agar. At first sight, the material might resemble silicone, but on the contrary, its fragile properties deem a short life cycle.

The same biodegradable prosthetics have been later reproduced as part of tailor-made costumes for the movement research and video project titled Fleshquake, which premiered at De School Amsterdam in 2020 and Dutch Design Week 2020.

Making process

The agar-agar is cooked on the stove, together with water and raspberries. After a few minutes, the gelatine liquid is poured into tailor-made moulds to recreate the body shape desired and left to solidify inside the fridge. After a few hours, the agar-agar prosthetic is solidified and removed from the mould.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.

Ingredients

Agar agar, water, raspberries