Socioplastics 11927 A Discarded Remainder Can Seed a New Practice
A dismantled exhibition may leave damaged timber, obsolete labels and discarded cables. Reuse can save resources, while JunkSeed describes a more specific transformation: a rejected remainder initiates a practice that changes what participants can make, investigate or negotiate. The material’s previous rejection remains part of the evidence and informs how it is used again. Jussi Parikka’s media archaeology follows the mineral, geological and ecological conditions of technical culture. Heather Davis examines plastics, toxicity and environmental history. T. J. Demos studies the politics of environmental representation and ecological art. Their work helps situate discarded materials within wider systems of extraction, circulation and disposal. An artistic workshop could begin with materials from a closed exhibition and document their origins, condition, prior use and proposed transformation. Participants might use the remains to build a tool for investigation, a public display or a shared repair practice. The project would record what new activity the materials support and how participants interpret the connection between the former installation and its afterlife. JunkSeed distinguishes a new cultural operation from reuse as an end in itself. It helps artists and institutions understand how a remainder can become a starting point for further inquiry. Its method follows material provenance and the practices that emerge around it. The marker connects ecological questions with artistic production by treating discarded matter as evidence with a history and a possible future use. A provenance record can also show what materials remain unsuitable for reuse and what handling procedures they require. This keeps ecological responsibility within the creative process.
REFERENCES
Davis, H. (2022) Plastic Matter. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Demos, T.J. (2016) Decolonizing Nature: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology. Berlin: Sternberg Press.
Parikka, J. (2015) A Geology of Media. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
CITE AS
Lloveras, A. (2026) Socioplastics, LAPIEZA-LAB, Madrid.
https://antolloveras.blogspot.com/p/socioplastics-project-index.html