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Performative Plasticity “Transitive Matters”
A conversation with Studio Plastique on their research on plastics and the responsibility of the designer as an agent for transformation.

From August 7th to 13th 2022, Studio Plastique mentored the workshop Performative Plasticity “Transitive Matters” for the Design Campus Summer School at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden as part of the collaborative 6 weeks program “The School of the Untold” as curated by Formafantasma. In particular the research-based design studio looked to plastics, and in particular the petroleum-based synthetic materials making up much of our material world in the form of “packaging, architecture, transportation, healthcare, and electronics, or even reaching into the bloodstreams of living organisms in the form of microplastics.” In this conversation with directors Theresa Bastek and Archibald Godts we discuss what led them to research plastics, the incompatibility of this material with our natural environment and the responsibility of the designer beyond the styling of objects but rather as an agent for transformation which can lead to a new definition of plasticity.

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KOOZ Studio Plastique is dedicated to “designing sustainable and empathic processes, materials, products, and environments.” Could you tell us a bit more on your methodology and approach?

SP Every project brings in a new context, so our projects always include a research phase in which the contexts at play are assessed. We consider the act of design as an exercise that shapes and connects contexts. For example, designing an object involves materials that will need to be resourced; as designers we feel that materials have an important impact on the environmental and human costs of an object. Also, when designing an object, we set in motion production processes with their impact on people, the environment and end-of-life of the object. Design, therefore, involves shaping those production processes. Designing an object is ultimately about understanding the function and the way the shape and formal aspects contribute to that function. As designers we have or can have power over these aspects. Acknowledging and choosing the reach of our actions to be considerate of the context is what we mean by empathic; judged so not just by us but by trying to involve the wider community of a specific context.

Sustainable design for us means that we acknowledge that the context for which we design today might be different tomorrow. In that sense the materials, processes, products, environments we design are informed by their ability to be transformed, adapted, repurposed or recycled. We are very careful with the use of the word “sustainability” in general because it tends to become a term to market good intentions rather than a fundamental attitude. We feel it is dangerous because it marginalises the efforts of ground-breaking practices and at the same time misleads the consumer who once again is lulled into a fairy tale. With the consequences we can all observe today.

Sustainable design for us means that we acknowledge that the context for which we design today might be different tomorrow [...] the materials, processes, products, environments we design are informed by their ability to be transformed, adapted, repurposed or recycled.

KOOZ What prompted your interest in investigating complex material supply chains and technological infrastructures? What is the relevance of doing so in our contemporary society and world?

SP Being a designer today is overwhelming because an idea, a sketch can set in motion processes that run around the globe, hence, it can be very difficult to make responsible choices. Processes include the material sourcing or disposal, the production or the geopolitical consequences on local communities or ecosystems; design today is both a tool to understand this globalised world and something that exacerbates damages on our fragile planet. Projects such as “Common Sands” or “Current Age” are attempts to measure and visualise the mechanics and infrastructures that run in the background of our civilisation. At the same time, such projects are provoking and facilitating collaborations to bring to the foreground improvements and possible alternative scenarios. Basically, investigating the mechanics that run our world is our way of exploring, positioning ourselves and getting a place at the table and starting a dialogue with as many actors as possible.

Being a designer today is overwhelming because an idea, a sketch can set in motion processes that run around the globe.

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KOOZ As part of “The School of the Untold” as developed within the context of the Design Campus at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden programme, you taught the workshop Performative Plasticity “Transitive Matters”. How does the project analyse and challenge the potential of design and of the designer to restore the broken connection between form and material?

SP One can say that plastics have a defining role for us as designers. Today plastics represent an economic model, a model in which goods are cheaply and quickly produced using materials that damage the environment and of which disposal is very costly, for both the environment and society. This is a model we are set out to question and challenge because it contains two opposites that result in the environmental disasters we know today. As designers we acknowledge that our responsibility, but also our power, reaches beyond the styling of objects. With the studio we are aiming to design scenarios that create a new definition of design. A design that is transitive, in which material, shape and meaning are part of a continuous transformation. A new definition of plasticity.

In theory, plastics are the ultimate example of something transitive. They are so attractive to mankind because they can be shaped from an abundant resource at low cost, into almost anything and transformed again and again. Also, in terms of definition, plastic is evolutive. A word that finds its origin in defining the potential of a material, a material state rather than a material itself or the economic model it became.

The etymology of plastic is Plastikos, an ancient Greek word for something that has the potential of being moulded or Plastos, an object that has been moulded. Unfortunately, this continuous transformation, which would make plastics circular, sustainable etc, is not working at all. The workshop is, therefore, based on the question what the word “plastic” could mean tomorrow? How could it evolve into something we want to take into the future?

With the studio we are aiming to design scenarios that create a new definition of design. A design that is transitive, in which material, shape and meaning are part of a continuous transformation. A new definition of plasticity.

KOOZ During the workshop, and based on the museum’s extensive collection, you critically looked at plastic’s evolution throughout time. How and to what extent could a reframing of the evolutive timeframe of plastics as human-made materials offer new possibilities and realities for a more balanced and less harmful relationship to the petrol-based synthetic?

SP Understanding that our current definition of plastic is tied to our current economic model helps to situate plastics. When the burden of production with materials such as horn, ivory, turtle and so on led to near extinction of said species, a race to man-made alternatives spurred. In turn, the implementation of a man-made alternative, plastic, led to an inconsiderate production of this material that ending up accumulating as trash everywhere, in our natural environments and increasingly as very small particles in our own bodies.

The transformation of oil into plastic materials is itself neutral. However, it is the capitalist model based on continuous growth that causes havoc. But then again, plastic could very well become the definition of the evolution of humanity as dissociated from our natural environment? If we could educate the human community to acknowledge that our man-made materials are no longer compatible with the natural environments, what would happen?

Understanding plastic dissociated from this economic model also offers alternative possibilities, such as the design of objects that really benefit from the properties of plastics rather than the low cost of plastic defining the design of most objects produced today. Or could plastic come to mean something completely different, such as the ability of materials and objects to shift shapes (and no longer referring to the petrol-based mouldable material)? It is a fascinating and very representative exercise for what we believe design could achieve or provoke.

If we could educate the human community to acknowledge that our man-made materials are no longer compatible with the natural environments, what would happen?

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KOOZ How does this relationship differ in diverse parts of the world?

SP It is true that our economic model is not interpreted everywhere in the same way, hence very different behaviours towards this material exist. In some regions of the world people treat plastic items as resources that they modify and adapt to their changing needs. But ultimately the problematic aspect of the demise of these plastic items remains universal: they are incompatible with our natural environment. To avoid plastics in nature they should be incinerated, transformed into a different type of plastic or endlessly recycled,which isn’t possible for most plastics. Therefore, a design flaw remains in plastic as we know it today.

KOOZ What were the most interesting/significant findings discovered throughout the course of the five days?

SP The generosity of working with eager, open-minded young people is invigorating and inspiring at all levels. Getting to know the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) and its excellent team of collaborators is definitely a beautiful discovery. Apart from that, it was eye-opening to see how a topic so contemporary as plastics can find its echo in the historic collections of the SKD and Schloss Pillnitz.

In some regions of the world people treat plastic items as resources that they modify and adapt to their changing needs. But ultimately the problematic aspect of the demise of these plastic items remains universal.

KOOZ What is for you the power and potential of undertaking such research within academic institutions/programmes? What is the potential of engaging young students in ideas of recycling, upcycling at such an early stage in their careers?

SP Such valuable moments allow research questions to trigger students’ curiosity, which is a very important aspect of human growth. Curiosity is what informs the choices of a child growing up. Similarly, we feel this curiosity to question our surrounding, our world, is what makes pertinent designs emerge. Whereas recycling and upcycling might be hopefully soon considered common sense, the attitude and methodology of conducting deeper going research is not that obvious. In there lies the power of moments such as this summer school at the SKD. It is a unique way to tap into the knowledge an institution such as the SKD contains to trigger new connections and understanding of our world today. It is so important to provide collaborative environments to young designers rather than instilling the idea of the “unique” artist-designer (which is nothing more than an image) that is still too often presented to us.

Bio

Studio Plastique was founded in 2017 in Brussels by Theresa Bastek and Archibald Godts. Their practice combines imaginative scenarios and critical reflections with in-depth investigations of complex material supply chains and technological infrastructures, thus pushing the boundaries of what design aims to achieve. Studio Plastique builds up networks of collaboration around significant themes for contemporary society, strategically positioning the role of the designer in an evolving landscape of industry, culture, and human experience. Plastique’s work has received international recognition and their work has been shown at the Design Museum Holon, Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven, Design Museum Ghent, as well as international fairs and platforms. They recently received the Dezeen Award for Sustainable Design, the Wallpaper Award and the Henry van de Velde Young Talent Gold Award in Belgium.

Federica Zambeletti is the founder and managing director of KoozArch. She is an architect, researcher and digital curator whose interests lie at the intersection between art, architecture and regenerative practices. In 2015 Federica founded KoozArch with the ambition of creating a space where to research, explore and discuss architecture beyond the limits of its built form. Parallel to her work at KoozArch, Federica is Architect at the architecture studio UNA and researcher at the non-profit agency for change UNLESS where she is project manager of the research "Antarctic Resolution". Federica is an Architectural Association School of Architecture in London alumni.

Published
15 Nov 2022
Reading time
12 minutes
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