From mermaid mythologies to macroalgae, agar bioplastic and sauerkraut brine, this workshop explores saltwater as an alchemical medium. Following a saltwater libation ritual, artist and researcher Meech Boakye will situate the group in the world of The Deep, a 2019 fantasy novella by Rivers Solomon that proposes that the descendants of pregnant slaves thrown overboard from slave ships became mermaids.

Participants will have the opportunity to play with foraged salt and seaweed gathered on the Oregon Coast, comparing and contrasting the various shapes, textures, and flavors of macroalgae. Using dried spirulina and chlorella algae as pigments, participants will then be shown how to create a translucent, compostable biomaterial in a home kitchen using agar, a gelatin-like substance derived from seaweed. The session will end with hands-on play as participants preserve seasonal, local fruits and vegetables in a salty brine that encourages natural fermentation.

Utilizing magical storytelling and play as tools, this workshop will consider the ways in which saltwater holds, grows, and transforms life.

Learn how to make a compostable, agar-derived biomaterial with natural colorants.

Learn how to extend the life and flavor of seasonal fruits and vegetables through lacto-fermentation.

Explore saltwater as a medium of growth, preservation and alchemical transformation.

• Ritual: Pour out a saltwater libation to honor the deceased.
• Fiction: Discuss the speculative world-building of The Deep (2019). Believe (if only briefly) in the existence of mermaids.
• Show & Tell: Look, touch, taste, and smell various seaweeds foraged on the Oregon Coast.
• Demo: Learn how to create biodegradable plastic out of agar, a vegan gelatin substitute.
• Play: Mix-and-match an assortment of fruits and vegetables to submerge in a saltwater brine for at home fermentation.

Meech Boakye is a Canadian-American artist and researcher based in Portland, Oregon. Their practice is rooted in relationships with human and more-than-human collaborators, spanning writing, websites, sculpture, food and biomaterial research, and public programming. Boakye holds an Hon. Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies from the University of Toronto. Their work has been exhibited at The Brick, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Oregon Contemporary, Gallery 44, and the Art Gallery of Guelph. Their writing and comics have been published in C Magazine, Oregon Humanities, and The Globe and Mail.

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