Material Night: Plastic Ethic

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During Material Night: Plastic Ethic, researchers and designers gathered to discuss design processes related to plastic.

How do designers use this material to make objects that matter? What is their position in the growing industry of 3D printing? Do they see this technology as a piece of equipment or does it shape their way of thinking and making? With Rick Dolphijn, Bas van Beek and Lucas Maassen. The evening’s moderator was designer and researcher Sophie Krier. Before the programme started, visitors were able to join a guided tour of Het Nieuwe Instituut, which took in various items in the PLASTIC programme.

New Materialism

The evening kicked off with a philosophical keynote lecture from Rick Dolphijn (author of New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies). About the ethical consequences of New Materialism, a mindset that focuses on material and thus questions our anthropocentric view of the world. This was followed by a discussion between designers, experts and the public about working with plastic and 3D printing, and about design processes, aesthetic choices and ethical implications.

Speakers and experts

Designer Bas van Beek explained his form research ‘Extrapolations & Anachronisms’. Designer Lucas Maassen talked about his work D-Struct, in which he explored the fine line between physical and virtual reality.

Guided tour

Curator Tal Erez conducted a short guided tour of the exhibition PLASTIC. In the foyer, students from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (designLAB) presented work that they made on the basis of this exhibition, and fellow Roos Meerman (winner of the New Material Award fellowship from Het Nieuwe Instituut) sets up studio in the Maker Studio. During the month March Meerman worked in this temporary atelier on her project Aera Fabrica where she used heat and air to blow up 3D printed objects.