SPECIMEN Nº21: PLASTITAR
Thinking though Materialities | 4 Days Hub
"When it comes to plastitar, its formation is simple: as residue from oil spills in the ocean evaporates and weathers, it washes ashore as tar balls that cling to the rocky shores of the Canary Islands. It acts like Play-Doh, and when waves carrying microplastics or any other kind of marine debris crash on to the rocks, this debris sticks to the tar."- Hernández Borges, Full Professor, Universidad de La Laguna (2022).
© Denis Połeć
Specimen being analyised by members of the Aquatic Geochemistry International Lab (2024), Forum HfMT
This Plastitar specimen is a recreation made for the multimedia science fiction theatre piece Specimen No. 6: Plastiglomerates, directed by Alicia Reyes. In this speculative work, members of the Aquatic Geochemistry International Laboratory share their knowledge about newly discovered plastic formations found in various parts of the world. The piece invites reflection on these hybrid objects as markers of the profound and lasting impact of human activity on Earth’s ecosystems.
This specimen-sculpture was created by Antonia Janosch, along with 20 smaller pieces that recreate plastiglomerates documented in scientific reports from the 2000s to the present.
The 2-meter Plastitar was constructed using recycled materials, trash collected from the Elbe River, and fragments of musical instruments used by the performers involved in the creation of the piece. Its main volume was built from Styrofoam mountains originally part of an old train model.
Thinking though Materialities | 4 Days Hub (June 25 - 28) at Ligeti Zentrum
Organised by Sustainable Theatre Lab
Thinking through MaterialitiesHow do materials shape our thinking, our actions and our perception of the world? The multi-day event "Thinking through Materialities" invites you to understand materials not just as passive objects, but as active sources of knowledge. In an interdisciplinary framework between art, science and design, we will embark on an experimental journey through different material worlds - with the aim of thinking, researching and designing beyond familiar boundaries.
Do you want to know more about Plastitar, Plastiglomerates, Plasticrusts or Pyroplastics?
Photograph: AChem Research Group, University de La Laguna
NEXT PERFORMANCE
SPECIMEN Nº6: PLASTIGLOMERATE
Spekulatives Musik-Theater-Experiment
19:00 Uhr | JUNE 27 | 2025
LIGETI CENTER
Anmeldung
Pictures by Denis Polec