The Algae Network is a reflective material exploration that studies the artist’s relationship with the Baltic Sea. The work focuses on a specific type of algae, fucus vesiculosus, or Bladder wrack, a key species in the Baltic Sea. Unsustainable fishing practices and bottom trawling have been known to destroy marine life habitats, leaving the ocean floor barren and scarred. The development of modern fishing equipment has bypassed the needs of nature, aiming only for cost-efficiency and profit. However the tradition of net weaving by hand is a disappearing craft, classified as valuable maritime cultural heritage. 

In an attempt to control the ocean, the artist shapes the seaweed into orderly nets, using the natural symmetry of the wild seaweed to her advantage. As the process goes on, the artist ends up domesticating, drying and ultimately killing her non-human co-worker. The net is then taken back to the murky waters of the baltic, where it rehydrates and dissolves into small disconnected pieces. This act can be seen as the resurrection, or feralization of the seaweed. The process is documented in photographs and poetic diary notes. 

Materials: Fucus vesiculosus, methyl cellulose (MC)