Synthetic Becomings. Material Plasticity and the Polyurethanic Plasticene
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2026-03-26
Author(s)
Abstract
Plasticity has long served philosophy and biology to describe the becoming of the human subject. But what happens when plasticity is the plasticity of a nonhuman material? This presentation turns to polyurethane foam to explore some aspects of the material plasticity of plastics. Moving between artworks, sculptures, and design objects, it sheds light on two strategies inherent to polyurethane foam: first, its synthetic becoming in the process of polymerization; second, its entanglement with the environment starting from domestic use and progressively expanding up to the planetary scale. Read through the lens of the Plasticene, which posits that plastics will participate in the material becoming of the planet, polyurethane emerges as plastic twice over: first, through the modes of its materialization; second, as design object, toxic residue, and finally part of the earthly becoming.
Language
English (United States)
Keywords
plastic
polyurethane
plasticity
Piero Gilardi
César
Plasticene
design
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Event Title
“Storied [Art] Matter”. Methodological Approaches across Material Engagement and Aesthetics
Event Location
Lechner Museum, Ingolstadt
Event Date
25-27.03.2026
Subject(s)
Division(s)
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
AL100-–-Storied-Art-Matter_Poster_RZ.webp
Size
135 KB
Format
WebP
Checksum (MD5)
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