The word plastic - derived from the Greek plastikos, flexible - defines any material capable of being reshaped with heat or pressure to create objects.
Synthetic plastic was invented at the beginning of the 20th century. Today there are hundreds of plastics or polymers, such as polyester, PVC, nylon, polyurethane, Teflon and silicone. What was a great technological invention has also become one of the biggest contemporary environmental problems.
Its production, consumption and excessive disposal contaminates nature at extreme levels and at great speed. Today, this oil-derived material is easily found anywhere on the planet. A recent study showed the existence of microplastics in the global food chain, present in the oceans and in the air we breathe.
The exhibition "Plastic Nature", by artist Eduardo Srur, was entirely designed with plastic bags. The same material that society discards was reused in the reproductions of famous paintings. Srur developed an original technique, inspired by the Northeastern handicraft of colored sand bottles, and dedicated himself to manipulating and controlling the fragments like a painter, his training language.
"If these geniuses of art history were alive today, would they paint with paints and brushes, or would they use plastic as a source of creation?" asks Srur. "Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh and Monet didn't know plastic. Not as we know it today, polluting the seas, dirtying the beach, scattered on the streets and riverbanks, disturbing our view of the landscape." The representation of masterpieces from the history of art that will remain with humanity for hundreds of years provokes reflection: the plastic that is currently discarded in nature will also remain part of people's daily lives for decades to come.
