Life in Plastic: Artistic Responses to Petromodernity

Life in Plastic is a collection of essays that explores artistic responses to the plastic age, focusing mainly on post-1960s North America. It examines how plastic has affected human sensibilities and expression, revealing the place of plastic in reshaping how we perceive, relate to, represent, and re-imagine bodies, senses, environment, scale, mortality, and collective well-being. The contributors think through plastic with an eye to imagining our way out of plastic and moving toward a postplastic future.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 04 January 2022
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

Since the 1960s, plastics have played a significant role in shaping modern life, presenting themselves as a utopian solution with remarkable qualities such as innovation, affordability, malleability, durability, and convenience. However, the widespread use of plastics has led to devastating environmental consequences. Plastic waste accumulates in landfills, pollutes oceans, and contributes to climate change and cancer clusters. These materials, derived from petrochemicals, are deeply intertwined with the global oil economy, permeating various aspects of our consumer goods, packaging, clothing, buildings, bodies, and minds. Plastic reshapes our cultural and social imaginaries, altering our perceptions, relationships, representations, and reimaginings of bodies, senses, environments, scales, mortality, and collective well-being.

In their insightful essays featured in Life in Plastic, a collection that primarily focuses on post-1960s North America, the contributors delve into the realm of artistic responses to the plastic age. This diverse range of genres includes graphic novels, superhero comics, utopic and dystopian science fiction, poetry, satirical prose, vinyl records, and visual arts. Cultural theorists from various backgrounds engage in critical analysis, exploring how plastic, both as a material and a concept, has impacted human sensibilities and expression. The collection unveils the profound ways in which plastic has shaped our understanding, interaction, representation, and re-imagining of bodies, senses, environments, scales, mortality, and collective well-being.

Ultimately, the contributors to Life in Plastic aim to envision a future beyond plastic, working towards a post-plastic era. They offer thoughtful insights and innovative approaches that challenge us to rethink our relationship with this material and explore alternative solutions. By examining the artistic expressions of the plastic age, this collection serves as a catalyst for dialogue, reflection, and action, inspiring us to navigate the complexities of our plastic-laden world and strive for a more sustainable and harmonious future.

Dimension: 216 x 140 x 38 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781517909871