Artist Statement
This exhibition asks people to confront the origins of plastics, a humble material that is as ubiquitous as it is mysterious. I would be willing to bet that most people do not know where plastics come from, or most other materials that make up all of the products that surround us. I am fascinated by the origins of the materials found in all things and I think that everyone else should be as well. People ascribe a lot of value to metals and other less processed raw materials though there is a reason we hit the Bronze Age before that of plastics. Petroleum based plastics are a deceptively complicated material which make up most consumer goods and because of that, one would assume its production is relatively easy, however it is anything but. This exhibition will walk the viewer through the process of ABS plastic production using a combination of narratives and visuals. Hopefully by the end of it all, they will come away with a rough understanding of the effort it takes to produce a single material out of the many found in the millions of goods globally. The point is to inspire a curiosity in others, that after viewing this exhibition, they begin to think more critically about the origins of other materials and about how much effort goes into everything they interact with on a daily basis. I also want the viewer to know that I knew nothing about plastic production before I began this process. It is amazing what the internet allows people to learn, and I would encourage everyone to research anything that they are even slightly interested in. I would also like people to understand the amount of effort that goes in to all of the refinement and synthesizing of natural resources in order to achieve the stock materials that can only then be used to manufacture our consumer goods. After all, can we truly appreciate any object if we do not fully understand where it came from?
