Plastics – A Modern Material in its Cultural Historical Context
Living without plastics is unimaginable today: plastics are the material of the 20th and 21st century. Plastics are everywhere and today you find them in the world of museums as cultural heritage. Within the framework of the interdisciplinary research project ‘Plastics – A Modern Material in its Cultural Historical Context’, the influence of plastics on our cultural development will be examined.
But how exactly has the material influenced our world?
What do plastic products reveal about us through their design, manufacturing technology and materiality and at the end of their lifetime: how can we preserve them for the future?
The information content of an object usually goes far beyond its visible properties, so that contextualization often leads to a considerable increase in significance, which must be uncovered and documented. In order to decipher and document the language of the objects, their preservation is essential. For contrary to their image as non-rotting waste, plastics show themselves to be difficult ‘patients' in terms of their longevity: Small, transparent pearls form on the surface, it appears as if the plastic is sweating (photo 2/4).
At a Glance
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Research project | Plastics – A Modern Material in its Cultural Historical Context |
| Administration |
Prof. Dr. Friederike Waentig |
| Faculty | Faculty of Cultural Sciences |
| Institute | CICS - Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences |
| Persons involved |
Prof. Dr. Friederike Waentig Lisa Burkart Laura Bode |
| Partners |
IKT - Institut für Kunststofftechnik Stuttgart, Uni Stuttgart LVR - Industriemuseum Landschaftsverband Rheinland |
| Sponsors | BMBF - Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung |
| Duration | September 2018 - August 2022 |
Gallery
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Reading aid from the early 20th century, called 'lorgnon', made of cellulose nitrate. (Image: TH Köln - CICS - Lisa Burkart)
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Detailed view of the reading aid with migrating plasticizer on the surface. (Image: TH Köln - CICS - Lisa Burkart)
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Coffee grinder from the 1920s, shown with a pattern chain, both made of phenol formaldehyde. (Image: TH Köln - CICS - Lisa Burkart)
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New acquisitions of the collection of the German Plastics Museum. (Image: TH Köln - CICS - Lisa Burkart)
In fact, during the aging process, certain substances such as plasticizers can migrate from some of the synthetic polymers, and this does not leave plastics without a trace: they become sticky, brittle and lose their shape. Such ageing processes confront conservators and conservation scientists with still unsolved problems and open up a wide field with a lot of research needs. Having this in mind, it seems all the more urgent to document and interpret the information that plastic products provide us.
In order to get to the bottom of questions like these, the Kunststoff-Museums-Verein [l1] gives access to its collection of around 20.000 objects. On the basis of the collection individual objects are selected - be it because of their design, their innovative character or their effect on us - the enormous social, cultural and economic change that this material and the individual objects entailed will be examined.
In the research project ‘Plastics – A Modern Material in its Cultural Historical Context’ an interdisciplinary team of researchers will, over the next four years, tackle the task of learning to read the language of objects and preserving them for the future.
The LVR-Industriemuseum, the Institut für Kunststofftechnik (IKT) at the University of Stuttgart and the Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (CICS) are participating in the project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
(Image: BMBF - Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung)