PLASTIC
15 January 2015 - 5 April 2015
PLASTIC: Promises of a Home-made Future is the third project in the series about materials and their economic, cultural and social significance. PLASTIC shows how far-reaching innovation in materials has fired the imagination for a century, yet continues to evoke doom scenarios.
This project is part of the multi-year program 'Materials and Things' and is based on the research by designer and researcher Tal Erez that resulted in an exhibition from 16 January until 6 April 2015 at Het Nieuwe Instituut. The exhibition took the form of a docubition: a combination of documentary and exhibition.
Documentary - PLASTIC Promises of a Home-made Future
“ It is a battle for our hearts and minds, and our wallets. And we find ourselves at the centre of it. So what are we going to do with plastic? ”
Once seen as the ultimate material of the future, plastic in recent decades has come to symbolise increasing environmental pollution and blind consumer excess. Yet emerging technologies, in particular the 3D printer, may once again change the applications and significance of plastic. _PLASTIC, Promises of a Home-made Future _explores the relation between plastic and the 3D printing market.
Plastic is one of the most important raw materials used in 3D printing. This new technology could create a new consumer model, turning plastic from an ecological threat into an ecological promise. But, as the history of plastic had taught us, the future does not always turn out as we hoped it would.
The Monsanto House of Future, Monsanto Chemical Company in collaboration with MIT and Disney corp., 1957. University Archives, Departement of Special Collections, Washington University Libraries.
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- Project: PLASTIC: Promises of a Home-Made Future
- Curator: Tal Erez
- Exhibition design: Daphna Laurens
- Graphic design: Team Thursday
- Documentary: Geert van de Wetering (Submarine)
- Webcover: Studio Moniker
- Research assistent: Arthur Roelofzzen