From Fossil Fuels to Future Fossils: Reimagining Plastics

Catalog description

Plastics are a staple of everyday life. Yet, the oil and petrochemicals that make them possible remain largely out of sight. Their afterlife either as microplastics inside our bodies, or as trash that will take centuries to decompose, are subjects of fear and avoidance. This course explores why plastics are everywhere, how they affect our societies and cultures, and how artists, thinkers, and activists across North and South America are working to imagine alternatives to a life dependent on plastics and other petrochemicals.