Eternal

This project was born from the study of materials usually used for home and office design such as photo frames, pen holders, empty pockets and the like, all things often made of terracotta ceramic or porcelain that could break. All these materials unfortunately in most cases must be conferred in the undifferentiated collection and therefore it is not possible to recycle them as is the case with other materials such as cardboard and plastic. Another thing that has caught the attention is precisely the shells of mussels and clams that contrary to what is thought in most cases, despite being a natural waste, cannot be conferred in the organic residue in most cases (depending on the management wing of the waste collection body) precisely because of their limestone composition. So unfortunately they must also be conferred in the residual dry. So the idea of treating these shells to create objects that once broken you can directly "plant". In fact, the composition of these shells has many properties, including feeding the soil and naturally draining the water. For this reason, in the process of processing the material, seeds of spontaneous field flowers have been added that will benefit from these characteristics, thus going to recover a function for this material again once it reaches the end of its life.

In the images you can see how a sample of this material behaves by going to put it in the ground, moisturizing it normally.

Reled mussel shells, a cooking hammer or pestle, and a mixer to finely chop the shells.

A step knit wide enough to sift through the powder obtained. Water and sodium arginate to obtain a solution at about 2% (2 gr of sodium arginate per 100 ml of water per about 200 gr of shell powder). Spontaneous wildflower seeds just enough. Charcoal for a more interesting coloring (just enough). Baking paper to arrange the mixture in the desired shape or silicone molds (the frame shown in the photos was made by arranging the mixture in baking paper simply with a spoon). To help the drying it is recommended to use for the first hour traditional oven at low temperature (about 60 degrees), and then continue drying at room temperature.

Boil the shells for a long time and clean them in the best possible way to avoid bad smell or mold formations. Take the shells and chop with a hammer or pestle (use the chopper only when the mixture is hard enough otherwise the blades could be ruined).

Once a thin powder is obtained add the seeds and in a separate container prepare the solution of cause and sodium arginate.

Add the shell powder with the seeds to the water and sodium arganate mixture, if you prefer a more homogeneous and darker color you can add activated charcoal. If the object you intend to make is a frame, just place a sheet of parchment paper in a baking sheet and arrange the mixture with a spoon according to the desired sizes. To help dry leave in the oven for about an hour at low temperature (60 degrees) and then leave at room temperature until it appears dry.

Finish your item with a hanger to hang it on the wall if you want, or as you like! But remember that if one day it will break you will have to remove the hooke or anything else you will add to the Eternal material before putting it in the ground. Have a fun!