Provocative Plastics Their Value in Design and Material Culture

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.

Foreword - Kigge Hvid, (INDEX: Design to Improve Life).- Introduction – Professor Susan Lambert (Museum of Design in Plastics, Arts University Bournemouth).- Part 1: Plastics in professional practice.- 1. The material consciousness of plastics - Russell Gagg (Arts University Bournemouth).- 2.  Deplastification - Sebastian Conran (Sebastian Conran Associates).- 3. Feminist innovation and rebellion through plastics - Flora McLean (Royal College of Art; House of Flora).- 4. Imperfect aesthetic - Roderick Walden, Dr Cathy Lockhart, Stefan Lie & Berto Pandolfo (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia).- 5. The value of plastics as a sculptural medium – Dr Richard Hooper (Liverpool Hope University).- 6. Witches Knickers and carrier bag theories: thinking through plastics - Joanne Lee (Sheffield Hallam University).- 7. Start thinking in circles – Dr Eric Bischof (Covestro, formerly Bayer, Germany).- Part II: Public perception of plastics.- 8. Plastic fantastic lovers – plastics and popular culture… 1945 to 2015 - Mark Suggitt (formerly Derwent Mills World Heritage Site).- 9. The canonisation of plastics: plastics and aspects of value in the I.L.E.A. / Camberwell Collection – Dr Maria Georgaki (University of the Arts London).- 10. Ambiguous artificiality – the presentation and the perception of viscose fibres and fabrics in Norway in the 1930s - Tone Rasch (Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, Oslo, Norway).- 11. The Polemic polarising of plastics: plastic designs that can disgust and delight - Dr Kirsten Hardie (Arts University Bournemouth).- 12. Materiality and perception: plastics as precious materials – Dr Gerson Lessa (Federal University of Rio de Janiero, Brazil).- 13. Plastics in collections: changing fortunes, perceptions and misconceptions - Deborah Cane (Tate), Rachel Cockett (Birmingham Museums Trust), Dr Brenda Keneghan (Victoria and Albert Museum).- 14. Plastics and social responsibility – Dr Susan Mossman (Science Museum, London).

Professor Susan Lambert worked for many years at the Victoria and Albert Museum where she curated the V&A’s first global 20th Century Gallery and initiated and oversaw its Contemporary Programmes. In 2007 Lambert was instrumental in developing an existing artefacts collection at the Arts University Bournemouth into the Museum of Design in Plastics (MoDiP), where she is currently Chief Curator.