Personal Project

Week 9 (13.05-16.05) - Collection + Processing

I initially collected my oysters from a popular restaurant (Batch1) and after finishing that batch I started to look for another place to collect oysters from as the place was not as responsive about me collecting their waste. I contacted more restaurants and was able to find a place that let me collect about 2kg+ of oysters (Batch2) which I started the cleaning procedure for the next day. The cleaning procedure is as follows:

• Rinse through –> this is done before the oysters go into the autoclave to ensure that there are no other organisms (of course except for those attached to the shell) going into the autoclave
• Autoclave –> to ensure that shells are sterilised
• Vinegar bath –> I applied the acetic acid method used in capiz extraction as another layer of cleaning the shells and I learned from the initial samples that the vinegar also removes the colouring on the shells leaving them white. I found that when comparing the vinegar soaked oyster shells to simply dehydrated ones, the colour of the shell powder when created into a tile sample has a closer resemblance to porcelain. The vinegar bath usually last 24 hours to allows the hard shells ample time to soften.
• Brush + Dry –> After the soak I do a last cleanse by brushing off all remaining sediment and external growths that have softened a bit more. The end product is a beautifully cleaned and pearlescent oyster shell ready to be processed. I then place the shells in a dehydrator to remove any excess moisture that might be lingering around. This step is particularly helpful because when crushing the shells you’re looking to extract a dry powder and sometimes there is trapped moisture in the thicker layers of shells. This just requires a second round of dehydrating (which I tried to avoid as I was on a time constrain)

For the second batch I collected from the redtuarant I used around 7L of vinegar.

Aside from using the local restaurants as a source for oysters I was planning to go to the Hague to collect them myself or look for more restaurants there, Thankfully, Isabel (a participant of the BioHack Academy living in Belgium) reached out and offered to collect shells from Zeeland for me and kindly shipped a box with 10kgs worth of oyster shells (Batch3). The day of their arrival I began the process mentioned above. When it came to the vinegar soak I was a little stumped because of the quantity I had to process, however, I found a contained that could fit them all and I used around 18.5L of vinegar.

I took home Batch2 to start processing with a mortar and pestle as well as a spice grinder (these were the pieces of equipmet I used for the samples) and decided I would need more assistance and bought a food processor which broke within 3hrs of using it. Unfortunately I didn’t get too far with working at home that weekened but I did indeed buy a hammer, gloves, and safety glasses and was completely prepared to try a different approach the following week.

Week 10 (21.05-24.05) - Processing + Testing

I started this week crushing oyster shells with a hammer outside the Waag. The sun was out, which was great because I needed to be outside to do this, but I don’t think I ever expected to sweat so much during this project. I was able to complete crushing Batch3 that day and finished Batch2 the following day, where I also was able to begin sifting through the pieces to sort what I could use as a fine and coarse powder.

It’s important for me to note that during the processing of Batch2+3 I had been instructed to wear a mask due to the prescence of heavy metals in the oyster shells. I would like to extend this recommendation to anyone else who would like to explore using and processing oyster shells themselves.

Like the cleaning and processing of the oyster shells, the sifting also took a while. I learned that listening to music that makes you happy or dance was very helpful and ALMOST made the tedious tasks fun. The sifting process took around a day and a half and by friday I was able to start testing an extrudable recipe created a test with varying tile thickness to test durability as well as whether there would be things for me to alter in terms of tile production (ie. buying a different mold, testing different drying methods, how to keep the tile from wraping during the drying process, etc.)

Week 11 (28.05-31.05) - Testing + Samples

The tiles dried incredibly well over the weekend and I was able to carry out more testing on the tile samples. I used a hand tool to divide each square (7x7cm) tile into four quadrants and sanded one side down and left the other as is and I then proceeded to polish one sanded side and one coarse side. This was done to see how the tiles absoprtion quality would change as well as to understand what surface I thought would be best to paint on and to exectue the concept. I carried this test on two fine powder and two coarse powder tiles, both types had two different thickness as well.

I began to explore the different ways I wanted to express and integrate my own culture into my exploration. Pictoral plates often included religious motifs, native Dutch scenes (which include windmills, fishing boats and hunts), and landscapes. It made sense for me to take a similar approach by using imagery from the Philippines that reflects important aspects of our culture and is recognisable by Filipinos and perhaps by those familiar with our culture. With this in mind, I decided that the longer rectangular (7x14cm) tiles I created should depict the landscape imagery as a way to invite viewers into Filipino scences. While doing research on Delftware, I came across this concept of dessert plates that were decorated with music and lyrics. These plates would invite guests to participate in singing after they’ve finished their meal, prompting a not-so spontaneous performance. It reminded me of karaoke and how popular it is in the Philippines that during my family gatherings karaoke is always a hit. It felt very natural to entertain this idea of transferring my favorite Filipino karaoke songs onto the plates as my own interpretation of Delftware “singing plates” that are more decorative than actually to be used for consumption.

This week I created all the oyster shell-based composites that would help me translate this concept into a tangible project. The Friday of this week I received an ingredient in a new recipe I wanted to test for an extrudable and when I got to making it, I could instantly tell that this recipe was different from the previous tests I’d done and low and behold, the test was a success. I was able to create an extrudable material that could possibly work on a 3D printer. At this time and test I used a more rudimentary approach of a syringe as I needed something that would allow me the flexibility to alter the recipe as need be while also maintaining control over the material and the form I wanted to create. Using the smallest test I placed it in the dehydrator to see how its properties would change with extreme heat and as I suspected it remains a porous material and because I used the fine powder, the material is actually quite sturdy. The finer the particle the less space for air and therefore the more compact the composite.

Week 12 (03.06-06.06) - Painting

I knew when I began this project that I wanted to resembled the fine detail and

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