Algae evaporation

Does the ceramicist pose a potential threat to our oxygen resources?
Much of the clay used in ceramics is extracted from aquatic environments, where clay and diatoms (a type of algae with a silicious skeleton) are part of a critical ecosystem. Diatoms are responsible for 20–40% of our breathable oxygen and play a vital role in maintaining biochemical and planetary circulation systems, but as they die, their silica skeleton contribute to the making of clay, a deposit that is a prerequisite for the formation of new diatoms.

But what happens when clay and water are extracted from such a delicate ecosystem? Is the process of making ceramics partly responsible for the death or even birth of important organisms? 

By making use of waste materials, the project takes a critical look at the role of the ceramicist in this process and invites a discussion of and further investigations into the invisible evaporation of algae.