A DECADE OF DECOMPOSING MATERIAL – REVISITING BIO- BASED PLASTIC POLYLACTIDE IN ARCHIVE
Since the documentation of the degradation phenomena of Living Systems within the MA thesis written at the University of Applied Sciences Bern in 2018, inquiring about the cold case promises some startling insights.
The furniture group Living Systems (2007) by Jerszy Seymour, made of bio-plastic polylactide (PLA), is part of the Vitra Design Museum Collection in Weil am Rhein, Germany. The bio-based plastic PLA is made by fermentation of renewable resources like corn starch, sugar cane or beets. Increasingly popular as material in Art and Design, this plastic is not designed for its longevity and raises questions regarding its preservation. Nine years after the creation of Living Systems, the plastic showed significant degradation phenomena, such as high brittleness, drop formation on the materials surface, and the emission of a strong odour. Within the thesis, we gained better understanding of the degradation phenomenon of PLA, as well as its impact on neighboring objects in the archive.
Yet, more than a decade after production, Jerzey Seymours intention of complete degradation to a „pile of drips“ may become, or already be reality. We revisit Living Systems and take the opportunity to examine and analyze its fragile material once again.
