Plastic objects can be recycled by crushing them into small pieces and forcing these under heat and pressure to melt into a new form - that's what many people know so far. But what about the already recycled objects, can they go through the same process again? Does the material stay unaltered no matter how often it gets crushed and melted again? Is there an end to the recyclability of plastic and at what point become structural and aesthetic changes visible or tangible? All these are questions the research project RECYCELT SEIN by Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler explores.

A group of wrinkled, blossom-like sculptures in soft but vibrant colors and with glossy surfaces can be inspected. Unter a swiveling microscope a world of dust, inclusions, cracks and bubbles appears on the objects surface: hints of the multiple recycling runs the PLA plastic they are made of has gone through. Next to the objects are three heaps of small plastic bits sparkling in muted red, green and blue. A closer look reveals the various colors of the individual fragments in a heap, which are a beautiful result of the difficult task to create raw material in clear colors when crushing multicolored objects. With the microscope the sharp edges of the plastic fragments become huge scarps, showing the forces of smashing the plastic into small pieces.

Gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (www.kulturstaatsministerin.de)

As the material swells from the robots’ organs, it curls and warps until it cools and hardens in its final shape.

-> watch RE:PLACES on Youtube

At the beginning of the performative installation RE:PLACES, the space is already characterised by sculptures with expressive shapes and colours. On closer inspection, the objects show properties that seem untypical of their materiality - massive plastic that forms multicoloured, abstract structures and sometimes throws bubbles at the surface. The chunks, which consist of different types of plastic, originate from industrial production, where they arise as waste products from the cleaning of machines.
Moving through this scenery is a complex construction reminiscent of a planetary lander on three legs. In a branched funnel system, it transports different coloured granules made from plastic waste. The plastic material is heated and compressed in a cylindrical extruder in the centre of the robot and swells out as a colourful mass. The hot material curves and twists until it cools and solidifies into its final form. In creative processes lasting several minutes, the 1.70m high robot sheds the plastic objects and spreads them around the exhibition space like three-dimensional brush strokes.
The result is a variety of intertwined forms with glass-like surfaces and fascinating colour transitions - material properties that are not usually associated with plastic. The visual and haptic experiences enable an intuitive and aesthetic approach to the thematic complex around plastic and its problematic use. A new perspective on the materiality is stimulated to promote public discourse on plastics.

The title of the installation RE:PLACES is short for ‘Recycling PLA Closed-Circuit Extrusion Shaper’. The objects created during an exhibition can serve as raw material again and thus close the cycle.

Fleshy-looking anamorphic objects reminiscent of organs or photophobic deepsea creatures are floating in an artificial environment. We watch them as they slowly age, become porous, and finally dwindle away—observing these bodies decay is a remarkable visual experience.

The footage was shot in a laboratory setup in which a small sculpture was immersed in a cylindrical container filled with caustic soda. The object is made of polylactic acid (PLA for short), a biodegradable plastic derived from plant-based raw materials. The decomposition, superficial at first, gradually distorts the sculpture until it finally breaks down into lactic acid and then into carbon dioxide and water. The disintegration process, which extended over several months, is documented minute by minute; due to the caustic bath, it occurred much faster than in nature.

As a long-term research project, the installation fading substance addresses our approach to biodegradable plastics and examines the temporal and chemical processes involved in the decomposition of PLA plastic in a visually palpable way.