The tales he tells of my oyster are so mesmerising – how it grew and where, what the shape, colour and undulating nuances of its black-and-white striped shell reveal about its decade of experiences – as to open up an oceanic history. My choice reveals an interest in art, he deduces, and we both know that he could continue to read character in this way, except that I am far more interested in the shellfish. This is the living memoir of the oyster.
Hector Dyer’s readings (weekends only; book now, book swiftly) are part of In the Eddy of the Stream, a beautiful exhibition at Inverleith House in Edinburgh’s botanical gardens concerned with the sea creatures, flora and fauna in the context of history and politics. Cooking Sections – Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe – shortlisted for last year’s Turner prize, have the upper galleries for a sequence of exquisite sculptures. What looks like a Roman mosaic floor is created entirely out of crushed seashells. What look like nets, ropes and chains are fashioned out of heather, kelp and purple moor grass on Skye.
