The pursuit of sustainability and the search for environmentally friendly alternatives to the status quo of our consumer society are more urgent than ever. It is all the more important to realize that almost everything is already available in abundance. These five projects show what can be made from animal remains, and at the same time question the relationship between humans and animals. This seems particularly relevant at a time when animals are seen as mass-produced goods.

BASSE STITTGEN, BLOOD RELATED

Animal slaughter is one of the largest industries in the world, and blood is its mass waste product. Basse Stittgen gives the material a new form with his products and questions the value we place on animals. The objects made from 100 percent cow's blood are intended to confront, create awareness, and simultaneously reduce waste. Blood tells a thousand stories, and each story is full of meaning. However, none of these stories speak of blood as a waste material. But could blood also serve as an easily available, and therefore all the more important, biomaterial? Basse Stittgen consciously uses the divergence between the strong symbolic meaning and the material as a waste product, creating a sharp contrast in his objects.

BASSE STITTGEN, HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS?

One third of all food is lost or wasted – including many eggs that either expire or whose shells are too fragile for transport. From domestication to industrialization, the value of chickens and their eggs has increasingly declined. The relationship between humans and animals has changed. In Basse Stittgen's project How do you like your eggs?, the contents become the container. Discarded eggs become egg cups and provide insight into the extraordinary materiality of an animal product that has become a habit through mass consumption. To counteract this shift in value and create awareness of our consumption habits and egg waste, expired egg whites and shells are thermoformed in the project. This creates plastic cups without additives. As a counter-design to conventional plastic products, a fully biodegradable bioplastic is created.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KATHRINE BARBRO BENDIXEN, INSIDE OUT

Kathrine Barbro Bendixen's luminaires show how aesthetic animal intestines can be. In almost cloud-like, light-looking structures, she gives them a second life and challenges how we evaluate certain materials. Barbro Bendixen's practice is characterized by an unusual and experimental approach to materials, which she stages in new and unconventional contexts. Her light sculptures made from animal waste products raise questions about sustainability and the handling of animal waste products.

JANNIS KEMPKENS, PLASTICULA

In many parts of the world, insects, and mealworms in particular, have long been considered a sustainable source of protein. However, mealworms also have a special property: they can digest Styrofoam. The mealworm extracts all necessary nutrients from the plastic and converts them into a biologically usable mass. During its life cycle, the mealworm larva grows, pupates, becomes a beetle, and ultimately dies. Jannis Kempkens' project Plasticula addresses these mortal remains, which largely consist of chitin. Once extracted, the chitin can be pressed into a film with the addition of natural acid. Thus, the mealworm can both contribute to the breakdown of Styrofoam and at the same time produce a sustainable alternative to plastic. A simple box serves Kempkens as a worm farm, in which each generation has its own compartment. An easy-to-understand online guide makes it possible for anyone interested to become a worm farmer and grow their own bioplastic. Kempkens' goal is to make the production of sustainable bioplastic as accessible as possible so that it can achieve the widest possible distribution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FABIAN HÜTTER, MEMBRANE

The total number of poultry eggs laid (including quail or ostrich eggs, for example) amounts to 1.4 trillion annually. This quantity results in approximately 1.5 million tons of more or less unused egg membrane. In an industrial context, eggshells and membranes are used for cement production, but only the calcium carbonate (lime) of the eggshell is actually utilized. The glycoprotein egg membranes simply burn. To save the valuable membranes, Fabian Hütter developed a process that allows the thin skins to be separated from the eggshells. The egg membrane encloses the egg white and protects it from microorganisms, so its reuse as food packaging seemed more than logical to Hütter. With the help of sodium hydroxide, the protein chains can be dissolved and sprayed as a liquid spray packaging, for example, directly onto vegetables. When the liquid dries, it forms a protective film that makes conventional plastic packaging unnecessary. Additionally, a compostable bioplastic can be produced by compression molding the egg membrane. This creates a transparent material that represents an optimal alternative to fossil-based plastics.