Plastic was once considered a major breakthrough for mankind thanks to its low-cost versatility – now it feels like our downfall. Even as ominous headlines warn us that plastic is now in our water, air, and bodies, we remain locked into an uncomfortable addiction to this potentially toxic synthetic material. We may fantasize about a zero-waste future, but the global consumption of single-use plastics is only increasing.
However, when artists began experimenting with plastic soon after its invention in the 1950s, the mood was one of excitement. The highly flexible and inexpensive material represented a world of new possibilities: it could be bent, cut, cast or inflated, and was transparent or in any number of brilliant colors. It also carried associations of modernity and mass consumption that made it a quintessential symbol of its time.
A new thematic exhibition at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, entitled “plastic worldfeatures the work of over 50 artists, including James Rosenquist, Eva Hesse and Christo, in a major survey of the many ways plastic has been used over the years, as well as the evolution of its associations.
Installation view of “Plastic World” at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2023. Photo: Norbert Miguletz.
More than 100 works are made from media as diverse as acrylic, silicone, vinyl, polyurethane styrofoam, polyester, PVC, 3D printing and discarded objects, but each has been made possible by the cultural ubiquity of plastic. Among the international movements highlighted are Pop art, Arte Povera, Minimalism, Finish Fetish, New Realism, Conceptualism and the urgent ecocritical works of a young generation.
“What turned out to be an enormous burden on the environment denotes an immense enrichment for art as well as for architecture and design,” said exhibition curator Dr. Martina Weinhart. “A look at the extremely rich history of plastic as a material opens up a narrative full of ambivalence: of a forward-looking capacity for innovation and seductive objects; harmful effects, but also the question of new approaches to treat this material, which is here to stay.
Discover the works of the exhibition below.
Otto Piene, Anemones: an aerial aquarium (1976, new production 2023). Photo: Norbert Miguletz.
Pascale Martine Tayou, The palaver tree (2023). Photo: Norbert Miguletz.
Nicolas L., Sofa Woman (1968). Photo: © Design Museum Brussels.
Installation view by James Rosenquist, Ranger (1967). Photo: Norbert Miguletz.
Caesar installation view, Expansion work (1977). Photo: Norbert Miguletz.
Gino Marotta, Artificial Eden (1967-1973). Photo: © 2021 Marino Colucci, courtesy Erica Ravenna Gallery, Rome, Artwork.
Installation view of Pinar Yoldaş, An ecosystem of excess (2014/2023). Photo: Norbert Miguletz
View of the exhibition “Plastic World: at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt in 2023. Photo: Norbert Miguletz.
Caesar, Egg carton expansion (1970). Picture: © SBJ / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023.
Christo and Jeanne Claude, Look (circa 1965). Photo: ©VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023.
“plastic worldis on view at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Römerberg, Frankfurt until October 1.
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