dc.contributor.advisor |
Jack, F |
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dc.contributor.author |
Romici, Milvia |
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dc.date.accessioned |
2020-01-23T00:04:49Z |
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dc.date.issued |
2020 |
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dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/49687 |
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dc.description |
Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
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dc.description.abstract |
This research essay presents an analysis of the interrelations between the materiality of plastics and their anthropological dimensions, misconceptions, and ontology. It considers the cultural narratives surrounding plastic as important indicators for understanding our world and how plastic became the perfect material for the evolution of a capitalist economy. The essay also provides an exploration of the mutating qualities of plastic. Questions are posed about how art can engage with plastic in order to find possible ways to deal with plastic waste. In addition to this, I investigate presumed naturally formed rocks called “plastiglomerates” and the engineered rock called “Lithoplast” in order to speculate what could happen in the future with respect to plastic waste within the topographical strata of the Earth. Many scientists claim that our planet has entered a new geological era called the Anthropocene, in which human activity is leaving a vast and durable imprint on the natural world. Jan Zalasiewicz, a geologist at the University of Leicester in England, observes that “plastics … might well survive as future fossils” (as cited in Nuwer, 2014). Canadian researcher Heather Davis (2015a) notes that scientists consider plastic and its accumulation to be the “golden spike of Anthropocene, the marker that scientists can point the start of the Anthropocene Epoch” (p. 67). Plastic has become vital in our everyday lives enabling humanity’s economic and technological evolution. Plastic can been seen as a symbol of the ever-changing, disposable nature of consumerism. However, the proliferation of plastic driven by consumer society has had dire consequences for the natural environment. Researchers have been increasingly focused on plastic waste solutions in recent years, developing bacteria-eating plastics and adapting plastics into building materials, such as bricks and road lining. However, to make a real and lasting difference, humanity needs to abandon its anthropocentrism, and the idea that nature is inert, infinite and at our disposal. |
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dc.publisher |
ResearchSpace@Auckland |
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dc.relation.ispartof |
Masters Thesis - University of Auckland |
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dc.relation.isreferencedby |
UoA |
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dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
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dc.rights |
Restricted Item. Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
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dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
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dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ |
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dc.title |
A Trivial Thing |
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dc.type |
Thesis |
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thesis.degree.discipline |
Fine Arts |
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thesis.degree.grantor |
The University of Auckland |
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thesis.degree.level |
Masters |
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dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: The author |
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pubs.elements-id |
792738 |
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pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2020-01-23 |
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dc.identifier.wikidata |
Q112953632 |
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