Provocative plastics : their value in design and material culture

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Imprint:

Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, imprint of Springer Nature Switzerland AG, [2020] and ©2020

Subject:

Design - Social aspects
Plastics - Design
Material culture
Plastics as art material
Design and history

Contributor:

Lambert, Susan (Museum director), editor

ISBN:

9783030558819 and 3030558819

Description:

xix, 304 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 22 cm

Bibliographic Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents:

Introduction / Susan Lambert -- The material consciousness of plastics / Russell Gagg -- Plastics' value as a sculptural medium / Richard Hooper -- Can plastics be a muse for future feminist innovation? / Flora McLean -- Deplastification? / Sebastian Conran -- The imperfect aesthetic / Stefan Lie, Berto Pandolfo, and Roderick Walden -- Witches' knickers and carrier bag theories : thinking through plastics / Joanne Lee -- Plastics manufacture and sustainability : start thinking in cycles / Eric Bischof -- 'Plastic fantastic lover' : plastics and popular culture...1945 to the present / Mark Suggitt -- But they're only imitation...? Plastic flowers that can disgust and delight / Kirsten Hardie -- Ambiguous artificiality : the presentation and perception of viscose fibres and fabrics in Norway in the 1930s / Tone Rasch -- Plastics' canonisation : aspects of value in the Camberwell inner London education authority collection / Maria Georgaki -- The changing fortunes of plastics in museums and galleries / Deborah Cane and Brenda Keneghan -- Materiality and perception : plastics as precious materials / Gerson Lessa -- Plastics and social responsibility / Susan Mossman

Summary:

Plastics have now been our most used materials for over fifty years. This book adopts a new approach, exploring plastics' contribution from two perspectives: as a medium for making and their value in societal use. The first approach examines the multivalent nature of plastics materiality and their impact on creativity through the work of artists, designers and manufacturers. The second perspective explores attitudes to plastics and the different value systems applied to them through current research undertaken by design, materials and socio-cultural historians. The book addresses the environmental impact of plastics and elucidates the ways in which they can and must be part of the solution. The individual viewpoints are provocative and controversial but together they present a balanced and scholarly un-picking of the debate that surrounds this ubiquitous group of materials. The book is essential reading for a wide academic readership interested in the Arts and Humanities, especially Design and Design History; Anthropology; and Cultural, Material and Social Histories

Collection:

BGC Course Reserves

Call Number:

NK1520 .P76 2020

Available

c.1

Course Name:

002. Books display in 3rd floor alcove

Instructor:

BGC Library