Nina van den Broek researches the aesthetic and material properties of tooth waste material as an alternative to elephant ivory. Ultimately, the goal of Ivorish is to synthetically ‘grow’ ivory, effectively eliminating elephant poaching.
Ivorish exemplifies the new, experimental phase, bio material research that utilises our own body.
Tusks of elephants have the same structure and ‘ingredients’ as our milk teeth. The difference is, they are worth a lot more because they have such an impressive size. By new techniques, we are able to break down any object of dentin into powder and rebuild it for a new application such as a piece of jewellery.
Information taken from Waag Society and Ivorish