sacrifice

Sacrifice is a grouping of oyster shells drenched in melted chocolate. It was created in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20th, 2010. Following the spill, a marked reduction in oyster reproduction and survival rates were recorded. Oysters are considered the aquatic canary in the coal mine. They react easily to underwater fluctuations and inform marine scientists and oyster farmers of destructive conditions before they dramatically affect other marine organisms. The chocolate symbolizes the seductiveness and addiction of oil and has a consistency somewhat similar to oil.

Since there was minimal recorded data on gulf coast oysters prior to the oil spill, marine scientists cannot confirm 100% that the marked reduction in oysters was caused by the oil spill. However, over time, they will have data to work off of in the event of additional future oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.