The United States Pavilion seizes the invitation from the Laboratory of the Future to present the project “Everlasting Plastics” on the very topical theme of plastic.
The American Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale is the country’s answer to project Everlasting Plastics curated by SPACES, an alternative art centre based in Cleveland, Ohio. Plastic polymers began being developed in the United States in the early 1900s. At the time, they were considered revolutionary. They were purported to tear down social and economic barriers, granting a much larger share of the population success to consumer goods that had been, up to that point, the prerogative of the wealthy alone. Today, plastics are being churned out at a pace so high it is worrying, even though we do know that they are harmful to the environment.
Everlasting Plastics is a collection of art commissioned by American researchers and scholars that tries to remodulate our attitude and our approach to the management of excess plastic waste in our waters, in dumpsites, and along highways. More than an ethical judgment, Everlasting Plastics passes a recognition of the global dependence on plastics and, in turn, of plastics’ ability to be an agent of change.
Featured image: Photo Matteo de Mayda – Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia
