Encrustations*
Encrustation is part of a long-term research project studying the relationship between barnacles and the surfaces they colonise. The tiles were commissioned by Professor Larissa Naylor of Glasgow University. They are designed to attract a uniform settlement of barnacles. The design features both vertical and horizontal grooves and topographic fluctuations that create the shape of a barnacle colony. The alternating direction of the grooves has the ecological goal of enabling some grooves to be washed in the direction of waves and others to be perpendicular to this, to enhance the likelihood of settlement by cyprid barnacles. The tiles are designed to create a continuous pattern when placed side by side.
*Encrustation is the collective noun used for barnacle colonies.
