The Petroleum Manga a Project by Marina Zurkow Library Ofcongress

Home , Plastisphere, Sunny (manga)

The Petroleum Manga A Project by Marina Zurkow Library ofCongress. Library of Congress Cataloging Data is available from the Library ISBN: 978-0-615-96596-3 http://punctumbooks.com Brooklyn, NY punctum books of offshoot a literary Peanut Books publishedin2014by First ofthiswork.to othersthelicenseterms volume. For any reuse ordistribution, you must makeclear express permissionoftheauthorandpublisherthis without useinacademicscholarship outside ofitsnormal that you innoway, alter, tranform, orbuildupon thework this work commercial for whatsoever, gain in any form and thework attribute totheauthors,clearly thatyou donotuse copy, distribute, display, thework aslong asyou andperform This work isOpen Access, meansthat which you are free to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Zurkow,© Marina 2014 Zurkow byMarina A Project The Manga: Petroleum

Images: Editors: Marina Zurkow Marina Zurkow Marina Valerie Vogrin

Credits Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Contents Watering Can, HighDensity-Polyethylene polyethyleneHigh-density (HDPE) Ghost World /UnaChaudhuri Freeze Box (Mama’s Corin GotA)/Lucy glycol Propylene (PMMA) Poly(methyl methacrylate) Rachel Cantor The Heap/ Pacifier / Lydia Millet Corin Body /Lucy Crane /Elizabeth Floats Squier /Susan Chicken Rubber Polyisobutylene (PIB) Plastic /Derek of Scales Three Woods Phenol Polyacrylonitrile Plastisphere /MaxLiboironThe Corin Meth /Lucy /MattDube Shit Chicken ammonia(NH3) Anhydrous Petroleum Troubador Machine/Maureen N. McLane Corin Half /Lucy My Jams/HaliFelt Past with Life Wooly Mammoth/MelissaKwanzy (ABS) butadiene styrene Acrylonitrile Murrell Forward /Duncan Paraffin Parks /Cecily Flower Plastic Parachute Hume /Christine Hechinger Georgian Heat/Nancy ina Intimations ofImmortality Vast /JamesGrinwis Objects ofDiscernible Field Nylon polymer that FaceWipe off Smile /ElenaGlasberg Your /Melissa KwasnyIndustry Petrochemical /Joseph Campana Harp

/ K.A. Hays 52 49 40 38 37 32 31 26 24 21 16 15 10 72 56 81 78 75 68 62 58 6 5 1 Acknowledgements 163 158 Contributors Postscript: Once Were, Now Are, petro agentissimal: chemo asynthetic /MelissaKwasny DoesCalmSay What Taxidermy Forms /JamesGrinwis Potential/ Valerie Vogrin /DavidM. andPlasticity Plastics Johns Polyurethane (PU) Reactions,Violent Kellhammer Part /Oliver II Horowitz /Seth &othermyths life Organic Reactions,Violent Part Kellhammer I/Oliver (PS) Polystyrene Simon ofOil/Abigail Story The IV Bags/Nicole Walker Ozeki /Ruth Immortal Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Perpetual Pastoral Fried /Gabriel Polypropylene (PP) FishThe That Fish/Doug Was NotJusta Watson “A Camera’s Not Expression, It’s Part of the Chair/ Plexiglass Morton Timothy Polycarbonate (PC) Sails, Hull, Corin /Lucy Jibs Corin /Lucy After Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) /Kellie WellsSacrament Will Be / Marina Zurkow Be/Marina Will PolymeRhythm /Jamie “Skye” Bianco 5 Spectacle”: YouTube /Michael Mejia Videos 156 152 151 148 146 142 138 134 132 128 122 116 113 108 102 98 92 89 84

Contents High-density polyethylene (HDPE) unknown. butsecret thatisanything andyet aworld largely categorize This mangaisthe record and ofanattempttoilluminate life’s own ancientflesh. on oflife earth,persistent legacy outof theseobjectscrafted This, andnotourgreat andliterature, works ofart bethe will inthePacific maskscircling beplastic clown still Ocean. become moleculesagain. we are long gone,When there will livewill forever, nolonger abletodecompose, whilewe ments makeup96%ofthehumanbody. But ourplastics carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, andnitrogen. four ele- The same oil, crude name for isatleast93%(andasmuch as99%) fromformed thedeceasedby theliving. Petroleum, another oil.crude Petrochemicals and plastics are remnants of life, and over millionsofyears were compressed andheatedinto chicken’srubber totheseabottom, ancestorsdiedandfell incommon.same protozoans Butinstead ofevolving, your ancestors were zooplankton, likeours. We couldhave the shield,to riot mask. tofetish football Their mostancient andtheirshaped-plasticoffspring,chemicals from nurdle the taskofcollecting, ordering, thepetro andilluminating - makessourgent It isthatlastquality—immortality—that conceive. hardly we can whose immortality have suppressed, whose presence we granted, take for and appear one day, we don’t whose origins know, whose lore we space around us inhabited by objects that seemed to just norconfrontbeauty their danger. isaseparate Their world day. every world our physical We neitherappreciate their We noticetheplasticsanddyes thatdominate hardly qualities ofthehuman…. think of as being some characteristic desire we typically hydrocarbon couldpossessthequalitiesofthoughtand although by “animating” we don’t meantosuggest thata This istheanimatingquestion raise here,we hopeto want? doesapetrochemical What Forward

1 Duncan Murrell 2 Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS)

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS) 4 Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS) buffalo dozed in the fenced and frozen hayfield.fenced andfrozen inthe buffalo dozed robins.drunken We went handinthrough time. The deer browsed theautumnacorns. We were dive-bombed by that soimportant? We went toanancientsea, you say. The toholdonto them.struggling To holdonto one’s form, is feeling, asinleaves falling, behind, ofbeingleft ofnolonger ofpocket,Out thestone deposits across theplains. It isa sale. poplars. Strongwindsbreak inthelineofNorwegian thousand years ago, the glaciers melted, andnow theoil’s for fundamental assandstone ortheheaviershale. Ten in theravines. isconsciousness? Ahuge question, What the recent,after meager snow, up animal-shapes churning outbowl.like ascraped andmud slides Mudpuddles remember this? We walktheland, aduncenter. Empty, as fossils, asskeletalremains. thesoul’s How can memory Drought, sisterofbone, thetrue bone inherarms, carries Past with Life Wooly Mammoth

Melissa Kwasny 6 Hali Felt are manufactured, to tovelocity things that transform: heft and oiled,that need to be cleaned heavy things, things that thinkofmetal, Ithinkofweapons Imostly When steels repeating, likeshecan’t it. believe take her phone, too. You wanna take my to get her togive upthe case, butshe thinks he’s to trying phone case, she says. Not allowed, her. the cop tells Hetries she’s not allowed to have a weapon in the club. It’s just my woman tohermusic. Then acopshows herthat upandtells on theblonde grinding aguyappearsandstarts In thestory knuckles.of brass For real, IaskedAdriana. Iwantedthem. thefact butfor thatherphonedoubledasaset case story ing from herphone, wouldn’t andthestory have beena shorts.and short wasdancingby herselftomusic She play- outinblonde extensions tricked where all there wasagirl the endedupataplaceVelvet they called Eventually Dog into free drinks. couldtalktheirwayhoping they outofcover charges and clothing, outfitsfrombled some theircollective club-worthy werethey in Flats andwantedtodance,The assem- sothey were thatthey realized outofmoney. early, Itwasstill but were before takingpictures they withtheiriPhones ofitall awinebar,found and andminipizzas cocktails got fancy Beth in Flats.The took They theirbikesand Adriana’s dog, from aweekend there where shespentsome timewithLori land wasunder-oroversexed. Adrianahad justreturned - to decide if Cleve other day and the three of us were trying shopthe intoAdriana atthecoffee andIran My girlfriend My Jams ? She keeps jams? She body before the fight, andthe body after. outacross spill will the skin.and bruises There be the will these plasticknuckles, fly, fistswill fractured, be bones will force.weapontomizable of brute you create and use When weapon and ultra-modern, both medieval cus- an infinitely A phone case, knuckles, brass a combination of the two: a fuse together their creator into whatever wants them to be. microscopicand spitsitoutinlayer layer. after Those layers chiseling, carving, andhammering, heatstheplastic anozzle filament. butadiene styrene) of ABS(acrylonitrile Instead of Instead ofobsidian, bronze, wood andiron, there are spools a do-it-yourself For defense? her, there are 3Dprinters. innovation,to individualartisanal whowantsEtsyweapons, radio.small But what of the woman who dreams of a return are manufactured, bethrown: thingsthatcan arock, apen, a while destroying whatyou hit. Use heavythings, thingsthat your own weapons beusedagainstyou; can yourself preserve what thewomen teaching ussaid. beaweapon; Anythingcan years agoA few Itook classes. self-defense Ithinkalotabout valued—it was, all, after iron whatturned sharp. innovation washighly imagine thatindividualartisanal sabres. weapons in their day, were Such handcrafted and I arrowheads, maces ofbronze, clubs, quarterstaffs, pikes, and also thinkintheoppositedirection. fists, First thenobsidian Drones, grenades, AR-15s. Tanks, missiles, rifles.can But I destruction. Things that are and therefore quick efficient.

Hali Felt 8 Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) 10 Lucy Corin thing aboutpresence, absence, something. viewpoint, something aboutorganizingprinciples, some- Her fatherlayway: farawaysomething inanew about all.seemed toget itafter “You’re slipping!” saidtheteacher. grammar, were they nobody goingtotensesbecause back people tended to pronounceand the two ways her name. In They’d beentalkingabout Persephone, thepomegranate, in school,. thinkingabouttheword and shewasstill trunk inthewater.truncated They’d been reading “Ozymandias” like beingaghost. Spencer Tracy bobbedamong sharks, his face light, inthetelevision someone likewatching sleep, insomnia, otherhalfofsleep, thisnew looking atthesideof and sheremembersinhis thepleasure ofbeingincluded together,watched sheandherfather, on latenight TV, ofCaptain’s thinksofthemovie She Courageous, they which already. of the dinosaurs. fall thinks of the mysterious She in thegarage. amouththathasshut The garage issuddenly father. Waist down heisinthedriveway. The rest ofhimis she’sapocalypse fifteen. closed onher The garage doorhas shecomes home from on school theday ofthe When beyond hereyes. metallic, distantandsafe, thegeneral quietmess, there all the all-around blankness of his feet, his voice, bouncing and in herfather’s jeans, herfather’s sandals, thehairon histoes, fromgrit the garage floor pressing into her legs. The holes tools, andwhenhecalled, she handedeachintothedark, lot, andheartless, headless butnotather. the all knew She thatlookedand thewrench likeadinosaur. Hecurseda with bolts, stubby screwdrivers, anditssockets, theratchet worked inthegarage, on thecar andshe’d play near hisfeet if she weren’t half made of him. the summer, But during he For halfoftheyear, whenherfather wasworking, itwasas Half

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) 12

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) 14 Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) el sol el o looksol el outthesol blacks released thisway soleilmy black petrolhello so long coal douce damepétrole thesoul and frack dig myhole unguentsighs pressurized compared toancient evolved so barely hydrocarbonedyr eyes thighs crude yr slickening whisk away theoil rock theslick lick wick thethick suck littlegodwould thenew keep what millennia how theground seeps of thegods intherock intheveins that runs ichor sticky for rock who crack the humans so ingenious oil into Latin breaks arock petroleum older thanEnglish Machine Petroleum Troubador

Maureen N. McLane 16 Matt Dube ready totumbleupfrom theearth, golden lava. That dirt eggs, thinking, somehow, were toprotect thechicks themtill theshitoffthemwithhisthumbnail.scraped the Heburied Korea, more,and loved their eggs even once he perfected those chickens, Pack named them Gregory and Chicken sides ofanolddoghousetomakeitacoop. Taylor loved meant well, boughthimapairofhens, sothey the raised contemplating whatwas on theotherside. Hisparents the country. thedirt,The way pecked they huntinggrubs, on theroadchickens from back visitinghisgrandparents in hewasakid,When Tyler by got tickled thesightof dabs offeather. tumbleweeds. downtown repaint gold theempty with He’ll andtrash bricks different fromlots ofHerriman empty a hopeful, song intermittent thatshows Tyler something give himvisions,chicks The cheeps outsidehiswindow their Chicken Shit He’ll start it all again. itall start He’ll he thought. Fertilized, waspossible. anything He wasn’t sure yet whatkind, from came all eggs, butthey trees, Plant menagerie? Dogwoods, even. Add adinosaur. and llamas. notcamels, Why now thathe wasmakinga them.and bindweed tofeed andfescue Bushesand shrubs busy. Cows milkand horses, for why not, pony for rides, sound sounding enoughlikepeopletomaketheblock and he thought, goats, it back, them in to trim bring bleats parking lot stops. and spelt, grass He got some rye seeds for could eat chicory,Chicks blooming blue flowers beside Tyler saw, andhemade plans. whatever. happeninghere, oflife cycle There wasawhole rows ofparsnipsheplanted. ategrubs,They green shoots, sleep.lid tomakethechicks ofthe themhave therun Let egg carton, someone’s the ideaof ajoke andyou couldclose wereChicks first, from thefarmer’s market, inan carried block,to revive acity down buildingstorn andgone toseed. biomass, breathing again. That’s where itstarted, hisdream broughtpetrochemicals itback, bondedtolife. life Buried andseeded,fertilizer brought flowers. upbright Chainsof mud,ical andcheck, grew. they boxes, black Flat linedwith inconcrete,Cracks andslathered- withchem Seeded curbs? fertilizer, one couldrenew anything, grow anything. to earth. hisvision closer enough to bring that much With dung heap. Tyler bought more bagsthanhecouldafford, stopped, stared, had crowing avision ofacock atopagiant 2® Weed Control, piledsohighhecouldn’t seethetop. He play: cross-stacked bagsofSuper Turf Builder®withPlus At thehousingstore tobuymore girders, Tyler sawthedis- them “environments.” They wereframes tolive in. air-filled planted. erector sets, tobuildlife-size Hestarted called needed tokeepfarmer’s upon hourstofollow whathe’d again. Itwasfarming, ofasort, tounderstand; hecame he on hisart, adding hisown comments, theprocess starting to readthen backtracked the comments people had made He postedpictures totheinternet, seedingtheweb, and boots and nudes, cubist boom color. boxes of ugly and blocks chickens. Hepaintedyellow sunsandrainbows, combat For that, many years after Tyler didn’t thinkmuch about those gender-confounded fowl. hens’ were necks rung, plucked, feathers theirdirty Tyler ate and Tyler wandered away to stare into the sun. the When the sideof that doghouse. twoThe hen’sfeathers grew dusty, he duguptheeggsandmade themmissiles, mashedagainst babynever chickens. two weeks ofanxiouswaiting, After mound exhaledsulfur, what toexpectfrom avolcano, but

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) 18

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3)

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) 20 Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) swiping thedoorofhiscar. she thought as she passed by themwith her purchases, bags A.J. angry. felt amnotadopting thatboy“I andthatpuppy!” who anotherlady inthetown adopted, live all here andthey ing abreakfastandhe’s burrito thefatherofakidhebeat, Live and let live? Down atthebreakfast amaniseat- shack was aboutit. andlittlechildren. Puppies Then, inthestore, looking attheshelves. shestarted That of energy. Kimpattedthepuppy’s head intheman’s arms. to theboy, thatgood?”“Is andtheboy noddedwithalot They went upthestairs onto theporch ofthestore. Kimsaid job, withoutdentalshe’d clockwork. flossinglike start finally okay.pretty OnethingA.J. wasifshelosther knew always amines. seemed for asecond still sawhisteethandthey They there weren’t curves, ahead juststraight on methamphet- inthemountainroad asif gone upanddown thecurves car from that before us.” thatalmostkilled “That’s Ithad Kim had said, were asthey parking nexttothemaroon car, of theworld. bite.cuter withevery Give meabreak, thisisnottheend handsome. themandidn’t Maybe have teeth. The boy was man carried, carried, thepuppy. andcarried Hewasalittle werethey on all theirwaytoward back themaroon car. The landscape. The manwasn’t any groceriesbutthen carrying on theporch ofthestore. Behindthemwasthebeautiful thepuppy.and themanwascarrying crossedThey paths puppy wassocute. The boy waseatingoutofaplasticbag A.J. got nervous. didn’t She know where toputhereyes. The sawhimatthestore laterthey days withaboy andapuppy. likeit.and driving laggedforsafety. behind The girls Couple On theroad amaninthemaroon wason meth toruin car Meth

21 .

Lucy Corin 22

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3)

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) 24 Max Liboiron given theirlongevity, are but they alsointimate. are ubiquitous, century inthetwenty-first Plastics especially chemicals. ofplastic andtheeffects hormone activity natural differentiate between the body’s impossible toscientifically health, andcountlessothersystems. Itisdifficult,often and regulate puberty, development, fetal fertility, obesity, heart a hormone, that systems inendocrine participating fully and break down processes, cellular but instead act just like tributors, donotinvade meaningthey thebodylikeapoison Most ofthesepromiscuous are dis- endocrine chemicals intheirbodies. lives have constant ofthechemical levels about sixhours, yet plastic-free peoplewholive even largely likebisphenol A(BPA)cals circulate through thebodyin chemicals.over 100industrial Water-soluble- plasticchemi abodyburden of carrying has more than98%ofAmericans tissue. The most for DiseaseControlrecent Center count from plasticproducts andaccumulate inhumanandanimal retardants, phthalate esters, migrate and other chemicals inplastics. intheirbodiesthatoriginate chemicals Flame Mennonites, andplastic-free American the farnorth carry intheworld,everywhere Indigenous peoplesin including Plastisphere extendsbeyondThe oceans. humanstested All now full, livingsystems. inall participants permanent are from notinanimateobjectsseparate life;Plastics are they to save in the first place.destroy we the life would be trying thatwould makeadifference,a scale and would disrupt ocean plastics, possibleon ifitwere even technologically theAnthropocene.) Cleaning thatcharacterize ecosystems Plastisphere is one ofthemany industrial-natural (The Plastisphere.” dubtheseuniqueecosystems Scientists “The next to plastic flotillas. in the deep ocean thriving been found plastics. Reeffish, confined until toshorelines,recently have blood of mussels. live Microbes life on floating and marine matter of course. circulate inthe Miniscule plastic particles large as plankton as whales and as small ingest plastics as a within, constitute, andeven oceanecosystems. Animals as points ingyres. Instead, mostmicroplastics are strewn upandscoop-able, bunched they withinconcentration even oceans, ocean. are cases are thoughthey inevery few Invery water column, andwhere are they ineachoftheworld’s five ofwhere bothinterms are they inthe dispersed unevenly from thelargerinextricable oceanic ecosystem. are Plastics insize,millimeters microplastics, called are andthey ofoceanplasticsare lessthanfive The vastmajority ofoceanplastics.derstands themateriality misun- thatfundamentally isafallacy thatclean-up saying also heard from counterargument scientistsandactivists Cleanup Arraydesignedtodojustthat. Yet, you may have with long,bristles like and fine floating arms The Ocean don’t itup. justclean You may have seeninventions even ocean plasticsingeneral, you may have wondered why we If you’ve heard ofthe “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” or The Plastisphere

Polyacrylonitrile 26 Derek Woods makes phenol from oil. weaving inpipesandtanks,chemical thecumeneprocess place innylon, epoxy, dyestuff, andexplosives. Through traverses ourpills, capsules, andbodies, into butalsoclicks Fantastic inA the submarine Voyage. of The stratum phenol ofblood, pathways capillary intothesmallest like clicks we and capsules, swallow pills When of phenol the stratum of phenol. in the that stratum contains phenol participates laid down in ice fields.of the exhaust carbon Everything molecular history. intheway stratum Butit’s notahistorical ofphenol. therestratum isanew On Earth It’s astage of isaphenylgroup bondedPhenol toahydroxyl group. capsules containphenol thepetrochemical (C capsules isdifferent.The molecularscale Inter alia, and thepills flowstheir failure ofaspirin. steerindustrial will the littleacids haven’t toperception. back cycled Maybe ingredients tothisscale. loopsback don’t Ifthepills work, offunction too.the scale Even themolecularaction ofthe that stirdesireandcapsules: pills for marketing works at legible ifthepackage gets lost. And thesongs andimages can’tcapsules inourfingers. dissolve Inscriptions must be of thetablets. can’t The pills betoolarge, small, orbitter. The and the designed pink capsules plastic of the to the bright and mouths. eyes respond Our scale, fitintohumanhands pills not thesame. At thefunctional three towork, are butthescales geological. pharma need all Swallowed The threeofplasticare scales functional, molecular, and Plastic of Scales Three 6 H 6 OH). nameless ferns go to work in capillary passages. go toworknameless ferns incapillary of thestrange fish now altersthe meaning of “aspirin,” as phenol, shades thesenseofword we read. Something meaning from theirmedia, meansthatoil, which through in a little medium of oil.written Words take a bit of always fossils, notyet minerals. Meanwhile, the word “aspirin” is forms. Even though they’re dead, they’re not not life—not and strange fish; itsmolecules were amillionnow-extinct the most unexpected actions. Oilwas tree ferns, bryophytes, your stomach. Inthisway, undead seasofoilhave arole in aspirin, time-matterreaches thelong ofgeological arm into of your hand. At thedistalendofprocess, swallowingan under strata West Texas, you holdinthepalm to forms can andcapsules—from ofpills PermianOil isthelonguedurée

Phenol 28 Polyisobutylene (PIB)

Polyisobutylene (PIB) 30 Polyisobutylene (PIB) too were chickens. rubber inventory—this to grow. These birds would befreerange. Butasthisavian them andwaited for byinstalled gasoline-fueledmachinery) least halfpowered by oursolararrays, but of coursethosewere heat-lamp(at plastic kiddiewading poolundertheelectrical upthehill, back jets.) Idrove thechicks theminthe installed and them,carried thatfirst T trucks ornowfor our regional requiredhave always petroleum, theModelA whetherfor fromsuffer rigors oftravel. the And these mailorderchicks sentthatway would though many thatchicks peopleworried twentieth century, byone-day mailsincetheearly oldchicks flown in on a Fed-Ex jet. (Poultry have farmers beensending ated from thanwind-orsolar-powered), coaloroilrather and powered by gasoline, kerosene, gener (probably orelectricity day-old chicks, hatchery: inincubators hatched Iowa poultry eases. Instead, Iplaced web orders from MurrayMacMurry, the broughtfrom home mites, Belleville lice, dis andrespiratory I stoppedgoing toBig Valley my birds for whensome chickens their lengthy transit. and buyerssellers alike. petroleum-intense in And always legally, sometimes not, for risky biologically butfrequently andAsia,been shippedthere from America South sometimes ers, buttheexotic birds, upfrom Philadelphia, trucked had of hislungs. came from probably chickens The U.S. breed nobbedfeet, withgnarly of hiscage screeching atthetop Yellow-head Parrot, upsidedown across whoclimbed theroof red and blue Macaws, a Golden Cockatoo, and a Columbian Rock-Crosschicks, Cornish yellow run straight butalsogiant rabbits, held not only cages stacked guinea pigs, and identical in theirwebbed aluminumchairs. Inthebuildingbehindhim, orso, tohisaudienceoffifty chickens around hunched him Amish. the mictosell The auctioneer usedabattery-powered (dark golden,in thecarriages lightyellow, ofthe orblack) the crowd had walkedthere, orcome on bicycle, ortraveled get tothemarket (anothertwo gallons), althoughothersin Market inBig Valley. We to minutesinourcar traveled forty gallon. Farmer’s from came theBelleville nextchickens Our thatheninourPrius,rying getting 45milestothe roughly minutesacross car thePennsylvaniaforty andvalleys ridges and broughtfarm of my car, her home in the trunk driving Wearing my Wellies, Iscoopedmyfirsthensupsister’s henhouse inthemorning. And yet…. themupwhenIfirst go outtomy of thehensthatletmepick feathers,with thedusty red combs, bright feet scaly andwarm pimpled, and dead—surely has nothing to do flat and staring Iraise.free range chickens and chicken—plucked rubber The Perdue packed Styrofoam oven-stuffer roaster, norisitthe savor replacement asthefoodie theplastic-and-yellow for itis,Whatever itisn’t ourhumanity,less bipedstandinginfor flaccid all flexibility. circuit.” itsDiogenes’ Or feather rejoinder toSocrates—a trail, on thecampaign something served the “rubber chicken brown bristles, by brandished The Stooges. Three it’s Or chicken:Rubber it’s ajoke, aplastictoy, yellow all skinand Chicken Rubber —makes very clear,—makes very thought experiment they the heritage chicken Portlandia chicken the heritage hipsters

31 - - - - -

Susan Squier 32 Elizabeth Crane is hernakedness. Here Iamon theroof ofourbuilding, Melissa unhooks herbra, back. lays thinkabout shecan All jean shorts, puts theeye protectors on, leansback. opens her reflector,Sherry positions itat the waistline ofher want lines. yourself.Suit I’m ahalterdress wearing tothedance. Idon’t away.building ablock couldsee They across theway. Melissapointstoataller No one comes uphere. couldsee! Someone You’re going toget lines. hers.wearing offas bra well,takes hertraining looks atMelissa, who’s still their T-shirts off, on, leave theirjeanshorts oilup. Sherry her head. lay theirtowels outchairs,The girls on their take Melissa couldask ‘that’s how whatworks?’ butjustshakes stepon will it.Someone That’s how it works. couldsteponSomeone it. No one’sWhat? down there. Ilooked. Gross, Melissa says. below.of theroof sidewalk onto theirBrooklyn three inhermouth; piecesofBazooka spitsitover theside gotten asmuch flavor asshe’sSherry’s going tooutofthe butMelissadoesn’t.a boyfriend dance. wantgood thespring tansfor alreadygirls has Sherry butit’s April sunny, It’s intheAttic. early Flowers andthe Tab, ofPringles, acan acoupleofoldCosmos, acopy of case), vinyl ofEvepack cigarettes (inglittery of coolerfull yellow Toot-a-loop, mom insisted), eye protector (Sherry’s hours: chaises, folding beachtowels, reflectors, foil baby oil, needtoholdthemfrom they 10-2,everything tanning prime Melissahead uptotheroof andherbestfriend with Sherry Floats Today tan. isabouttheperfect better already. some more Melissarubs baby oilon herself. understand thelyrics, not atall. even maybe But shefeels self,this song speakstohertrue ifshedoesn’t even fully John, floatsintoit. Melissa loves Elton John, loves this song, withthedialandlands on Man”fiddles “Rocket by Elton your man, down. putsitback on turns her She Toot-a-loop, flips through aCosmo, comes across on turning tipsfor nothing.Melissa says Today isnotadaylearning. for She You’re going tohave sometime. tolearn thinkshe mightbealezzie.ever Melissa isnotalezzie, does notwantanyone anywhere to You shouldbesolucky. What, Frenching? you? Ew! With Do you wanttopractice? Melissa doesn’t wanttohave toexplainsarcasm. Gee? Are you from Father Best? Knows Gee, you makeitsoundsoappealing. You have tojustget itover with. I’m notgoing tojustFrench anyone. Iwanttolikethem. already. Have you Frenched ever knows theanswer anyone? Sherry That doesn’tI’m mean aprude. Youover flipped inlike, aminute. I’m notaprude. You’d have tolike, notbeingaprude. try Oh. A date. isalright-looking. Eric Hisfriend someone me? Bring for says. someoneDonnie you, couldbring for ifyou want, Sherry over ontominutes on sheturns herstomach. herback on theroof, havingsexorsomething. ofthree Inaboutall conscious uphere asifshewere doinganything actually ever. now about she as knowsself- is that she feels All right won’t years how good shelooks, forty for realize thenor slender, tautskinofafourteen-year-old, withthetypically tend tobenakedmuch, outsideoftheshower. Melissais naked. Melissa doesn’t tend to look at herself naked, doesn’t

Polyisobutylene (PIB) 34

Polyisobutylene (PIB)

Polyisobutylene (PIB) 36 Polyisobutylene (PIB) pointing atany numberofendings. edge ofherbody, oftheskyline, over nearherparents aspart blanket, sheguessedcarrots. carrotsThe were down atthe some hallucinations. shesawherfingers down the When through hertube. said, She drowned?”“I pointedout She day,the fourth theirdaughterwoke up. made noise She a line about there and not there. Then of on the morning that Ican’t write. Next isalineaboutthemother. Next is thelids.on hereyes andclosed Next isalineaboutthefather way you thinkof. can her inevery The fatherputointment organs.lined upfor overThe motherandthefatherstood underherbodyweight.carpet No one isblamingthepeople fromrose on herknuckles like jellyfish beingpressed tothe the green hum of numbers reflecting on the walls. Blisters lightoftheICU, inthewatery wrapped withtubesand of medications, shewasbloatedwithfluidsandbubble- head full-grown. Bythetimeshewaspronounced dead graduation,After theirdaughter’s madness burstfrom her Body

Lucy Corin 38 Lydia Millet I removed withgreat the pacifier only reluctance. repulsive inawoman oftwenty-eight. year-old wasclearly them were distressed. visibly had beencute inatwo- What fivenot even minutes tome.would bepermitted four of All parents away; begged metotakeitoutofmymouthright obscene, figure. perverse My brother, mysister, and my shotdown.mouth Iwasinstantaneously Ipresented an But walkingaround thehousewithnubinmyadult was high. inhand,briefcases inmouth: zazas ofcontentment ourlevel mightfeel.a society going Isawusall aboutourbusiness, of adult pacifier-suckers, how fulfilled,such gratified how nothing.I wantedfor Isawtheprospect ofawholesociety prepared tolie. For fleetingmoments, afew itwasasthough based nub,found itsatisfying, themouth—I filling I’m not The smoothness, ofthatpliableoil- thefulsome perfection it underthetapandthenpoppedintomymouthagain. no little compulsion) stuck (andadmittedly out of curiosity inadrawer and across came I believe—I anunusedzaza As anadult, once—home atmyparents’ Christmas, housefor it,old for Inolongerfor thebreast qualified substitute. the thingtograduate from toddlerhood, Iwastoo possibly; by wailing. mymotherdespiteterrible Ihad torelinquish one I owned, was not lost and which replaced I finally which item, a called “zaza.” Ifondly which remember Istill thelast protrusion on myface.rubber fixated on the Iwasdeeply in mymouth; besightedwithoutthefake- Icouldrarely around withone lollipops ofthesepetrochemical constantly time nursing. almostthree for years Iwent So ofmylife ofthebreast,ability atage two Iwasnotsatisfied by part- more thanthree later. decades Butdespitetheready avail- breastfeed mychildrenand asamotherIwould also, duly leader inthe1970s— League Leche nursing mother—aLa breast whenthebreast itselfisabsent. Mymotherwasa replaces the nipple in a baby’s mouth, the mother’s subs for The pacifier, nourishment,offers no though it physical stance’s manufacture, one beingExxonMobil. sources. Two companies are responsible largely thesub- for fier has “excellent impermeability,” according tomyInternet rubber, The butyl that is,rubber of a baby’s synthetic paci - Pacifier

Polyisobutylene (PIB) 40 Rachel Cantor ritual alone,ritual perhaps, man, Iconsider myself still. naked through thenight; asaresult ofthisritual, andthis clothes, theirlife, thoughitshortens andleaves mecoldand dipped into compost. ritual, This is my nightly clean my to them,and cleanse their edges, withspecialcarefor which dining,After I remove my tunic and breeches by the river consumed.recaptured andimmediately ismydinner. Such landson thatnograin the pavement withoutbeing ensuring groatsof burned bananaleaf. andablack Ieat themquickly, From oftheroad, thesafety Iconsider myrepast: ahandful ofothertribes.mites donotleave fear theirheapfor far,I donotrun nearagate, always Iplace for myself and the and run, thoughitseemsthefire consume inmylegwill me. broken, Iamabletostand thoughIknow itisnotbecause instruction.unintelligible The mites swarm.feels Myknee my broom. thenapkin from lifts hermouthandhowls She her tribe,call her, and fell and I twist alsoatthe knee, with has takenexception tomytrespass. from turns meto She nobarrow. itcarries because perhaps Itistheleader, who a pileofrotting greens. Ihad notheard themiteapproach, from behind by at the knee, a truncheon my face landing in faction. Ihave stored littleinmybreeches whenIamfelled infection andage inameal, by Iamsickened putre buteven - hasmadeConsoling melesssqueamishabout thedying consume itwithhismouth. onman couldcontrive tohidesuch hisperson, much less withmybroom what Iunearth end; astarving noteven a spotwhere theodorislessrepugnant. you nottell Ishall theedges, seethemasIskirt I cannot tofind endeavoring yellow tribe, thesqueakingoftheirbarrows. fronds; ofrodents, Iheartherustle andtheroaming ofthe summer sun, thegreen rot ofplumage anddampenedtree Even maderancid from by the foodstuffs the gate I smell toeachotherinacodedlanguagecall ofnumbers. The mites whose leader andhowls. paintsherteethblack their noseandmouth. This heapistended by a yellow tribe, Tribes are identified by thecolored napkinover they wear strangers orthelessproductive.is for barrow, a if truncheon;this but instead it is not carries clear this, the largest heap. a does not pull The head of each tribe as tribes, operate They the strongest, of course, in operating and wear transparent gloves. The heaphasmade themagile. to rope threaded through oftheirchildshorts, thewaistband their faces withbootblack. tiny pull barrowsThey attached These are brown small of thingswhosmell refuse andcover stamp and ululate, to scare the mites as may be necessary. I pauseatthegateandprepare myself—morally, Imean—to The Heap

Polyisobutylene (PIB) 42

Polyisobutylene (PIB)

Polyisobutylene (PIB) 44

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) 46

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) 48 Propylene glycol leave, sobeautiful. itwasall finally because another, moment. theright waitingfor We didn’t wantto diers. We across gazed ourfreeze-boxes, intotheeyes ofone near. We were getting sosad, itapproach watching likesol- crept, over time, ahorizon. We chambers keptourcryogenic the endofworld. We sawitcoming, andtowards usit andfollowed uslikewagons,lined thehills came butstill airofpastsadness.until we awoke totheclean Freeze-boxes walkedpeacefully,earth andwhenwe couldn’t walkwe slept manslepthisrage away.time thecaped Those ofusawake on box towaitthroughown cryogenic thedelusions, andover through indistantdreams. itall timetheteenusedher Over us. manrape caped We intoourmachinetowork crawled grieving. thepsychotic teenshootourmother, Let letthe mal andvegetable, butbestwaswe inthere couldcrawl for somefreeze-box for time. We everything, useditfor ani- for Now, inthenearfuture, we’d already thecryogenic perfected BoxFreeze (Mama’s GotA)

Lucy Corin 50 Propylene glycol

Propylene glycol 52 Una Chaudhuri the ghosts have gathered for, building a monument to their its endanyway. thisisamournful, Maybe moving, memorial fake, faux, valueless, junk, nearing story’s crap: thattawdry Artificial, intheworld? that hasbeentheirstory synthetic, exorcismritual they’re engaged in, tostemthetideofStuff makestheghostsofplasticdancetogether? Isthisa What alter them. ant, ifit’s going theirpowers, tomultiply orreduce them, or choreography. It’s hard ifit’s totell surreptitious orexuber- with flip-flops. anenigmatic perform Theghostsofplastic gate withhelicopters, umbrellas withhairbrushes, IVbags in relation tothefigures inothergroups. Gogglescongre- with,themselves other ghosts, both within their group and up, formations—on liningthemselves esoteric oraligning of petrochemical: secret, seem bent on they assumingcertain But these ghosts are not content to represent merely a kind ABS. PET, by theirubiquity: necessary PVC, HDPE, PMMA, ammonia, nylon, etc., along withtheabbreviations made petrochemicals:of one ofseveral polystyrene, polyurethane, ofeachposter, handcorner tag on thetopright the name is revealed The logicoftheirassembly by theunobtrusive castle, abondage mask, meat. andacutofshrink-wrapped Afro comb, and an exit sign. Another consists of a bouncy One group comprises: knuckles, a set of brass a Slinky™, an combinations, taxonomy origins. a rigid of chemical obeying stark whitesurfaces. Many ofthemcongregate insurprising matic, flat, andspare.before float They black linesus, fineon ing forms. Incontrast, theseghostsofplasticare monochro- colorsandcompacted,in shiny bright solid,- ever-proliferat We lives toowell among how know us: plasticactually only Ghost World the Petroleum Manga. we be abletosee, will and celebrate, of thestrange beauty unleash them into tacky, existence. synthetic In that world, andimagination, spacessafe ofimagery without having to to pursueourpleasures andconfront ourdemons inthe with chemicals. we beable perhaps will world Inthatnew compulsion thatmade plastic ourkingandsoakedlives a calmer, ahead, simplerworld freed from theproduction- linesandaustere palette,their clean may bepromising us As psychopomps, the figures of the Petroleum Manga, with world, thefutureendofpetro-modernity. follow thatwill but alsoharbingers. are they Maybe dancingusintoanother theghostsof plastic are memorials But perhaps notonly destroys.) the same thing to us as it did to countless poor countries: it ter—is exhausted. (The“Resource Curse” isupon us; itdoes the falsepromise ofendless, inexhaustible, mat- malleable we made—the oneworlds we made mostrecently, outof We are already living with the knowledge that one of the The Ghost ofthe World Petroleum Mangaishere, now. (parachutes).our fears our superfluities(Pampers), ourhopes(silicone butts)and advances (rolling suitcases), ournecessities(Pampers) and andour chickens) ourabsurdities (rubber memorialize will tems andsecrets knuckles, (brass bondage masks). They lives (Afrodaily combs,- exit signs)aswell asofoursys pharaohnic histories, ofour tell theghostsofplasticwill benzene. that commemorate ancient Likethehieroglyphs plastic, how we on fed petroleum, how we builtourlives on They record, futures,for millennial how we lived andloved These ghostsare ofthatwaning world. thehieroglyphs somany ofushave lived thelasthundredworld infor years. own disappearance. rather, Or tothepassingofplastic

Propylene glycol 54

High-density polyethylene (HDPE)

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 56 K.A. Hays and did not rise after.and didnotrise thetemple, saydiedfor they Some say thetemple’sSome gods tosson inthebelly. its hope? acivilization’sfor belief, itspoise— one mightsay, it floats, a vessel, rush in,And whenthefloods pastthespout.seedheads drifting from temple, thestocky For decades, still andplantaincurl chicory Watering Can, High Density-Polyethylene

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 58 Melissa Kasny w Rubber. down now. closed those factories All of Shame Rubber,American Home Foods. American National Plastics,American itwascalled. Plastics, American andacigarette). (asandwich lunch No windows anywhere. We breaks and our our two fifteen-minute waited for waters oftheoceansnow. the like theplankton andplankton-like plasticthatclouds our fingers. withwhiteplasticparticles, Theairwasblurry knives intothe forge, andsendingthemback utility burning background were they from, cast ones with slicingthefaulty two hours in onefor spot, from forms the plastic ripping centsanhour.fifty line work. Itwasassembly We stood We weren’t proud ofthepaycheck either: and two dollars ing oilcomes in. Iwasnotproud ofmywork. No one was. cookmanufactured- size thefive-gallon jugsthatindustrial whenIwasnineteen.I worked inaplasticsfactory We Industry eternal. the future tense, already gone? God-particles, thus. Almost we in this one think of ourselves once we’ve it? erased When rounding thecorners, over-praised. within isthelife Where toour own devices.That we are left increasingly Over- tion. That we must standtaller. forget can names. That we ugliness, now age. atten- for atourshamelessgrab Shame the seasays. says. thelandfill What Shame atourbigness, at not understanding until later.Shame In balloons: what fawning, agirl, for betterthan secretarying. inthe1960s.everyone Goodplace toget ajob, betterthan masks orearplugs. workplace theAmerican didto What with curlers, atwork line. on theassembly No one suggested spread on toast. Menpassingoutinthefoundry. Women salesmen.plastic andthemarried ofit, smell Burnt perfume

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 60

High-density polyethylene (HDPE)

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 62 Elena Glasberg use ofit. Itlives on inthetauntingsmile, andinthedesire bag,grocery through itsoverproduction andourunthinking plastic reveals itselfintheservile footprint carbon Slavery’s assumptionsundermines ofaproper, wholehumanbody. and exchange thing—permeates ofhumanfor scandal—the lives on,Slavery beyond legalredress. Itsontological thepetroleum economy. ofCotton toserve Land the golliwog, a tar baby reengineered, reanimated from the waitinghydrogeniously molecules, isSambo, thecarbon hisfour-fingered whiteglove extendedtoward anx- With asaworkdescribed dance, hisown extolling exploitation. in two, magically spokes-atom erupts be only in what can boingHeated toarhythmic boing boing, Oil theStandard tokeepingcommercial andplentiful.crucial gascheap splitting,bonding andcarbon bothmodesofproliferation demonstrates on hisown round bodyhydrocarbon black film. atom,carbon Itbelongs toatalking aninkyblob, who I’ve seenthatsmilebefore, Oilindustrial ina1946Standard tence, thesign that swallowed itssignified. withanimpossibleephemeralpersis- Cheshire smileclings a forgotten mass. And yet the bag does not forget me. Its itintoacupboard, andcrumpled plumpness atthegrocery ding inatree; shape-shifting, lingering. I’ve itto filled face,My mindsnagson theghostly likeaplasticbagshred- Wipe That Off Face YourSmile achieved objectiveachieved correlative intheundoingofhuman. misnomer how for man’s free-flowinghasfinally anxiety that setthestage theanthropocene, for thenarcissistic alongThat insinuatingsmilesuggests all itwaspetrocarbons takeover. thatthingswill fear containsthat barely arevolution order: oftheecological the prosperity. Itlives on inanenvironmental consciousness slave revolt happenedhauntsAmerica’s thatnever hollow helmeted ElmerFudd potofboilingoil. inabigblack The ranks, andlikeaLooney Tunes Sambo, threaten tocook pith- dolls,kewpie goggle eyeballs—have bursttheircartoon chickens, ofrubber plasticbestiary alien abject parts—a These hyperactive hydrocarbons,forgotten, the excess and oftheirown.to have parts to live and seek other parts,of the parts those parts and for

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 64

High-density polyethylene (HDPE)

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 66 Nylon polymer

Nylon polymer 68 James Grinwis inside of the echo growinside oftheecho teeth. extinguish useven, maketheheart is abouthow objectsshapeus, that istalking. No itisnotthemask, it I love herand missher, orisitthemask upyet insideofthesocket. still bundled cord be yourself only inthemannerofanelectrical can couldn’t Ibesomeone else?No, you thing notnecessarily. the mask, amIme?says Why pistol. andutensils would beagood Arazor pistolhasnonameother thanglock My glock hasaname,My hairbrush it’s Joyce. My umbrella hasaname, it’s Henry. we couldn’tuntil we because collapsed breathe. andmasks in theseheavyclothes and we insideofthegas played football it wascalled “mop” gear andthere wasgas Iwore maskwhich because my rubber thesameway Imiss Cruiser I missmyLand hair, dust, despair, etc. outthewindow, bad blew and itwaslikeeverything what itdidtomylife. inthere Mydogcouldride I missmy Cruiser,’86 Land Imiss Vast Objects Discernible Fieldof thrown upsidedown tomelt. it’s sunny, likeaniceskatingrink insidealittlekid’sstuck fist. else, everywhere And dumped upon itlikeaninsanedrapery just one houseexactly, tons ofsnow In spring, eachyear, ablizzard hits

Nylon polymer 70

Nylon polymer

Nylon polymer 72 Joseph Campana art’s connectionart’s world. tothenatural Yet players now pluck from animalintestines. Wood secure andanimalstring or catgut, tofibers drawn gutandreferring cattle for short kindsofwood are andsome madevarious strings still ofgut petroleum. tendto bemade still of casings ofmostharps The Now thesignature age.more substanceofawholenew potently of being susceptible to shaping but be not just the quality the organicandmechanical, thatplastic would come to realize,Little didColeridge distracted by thebattlebetween forces. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s EolianHarp” “The asks: signature ofthepoet’s mindresponding, withsong, tothose ing greater andhighertruths. came tobea The instrument Nature throughcalled a play makes Art of forces- manifest to beplayed by abreeze. And sothe ideathatsome force invented by Athanasius around Kirscher 1650, was designed butthewindgod Aeolus. Orpheus after The instrument, The Romantics. ofthe Aeolian harp, Themiracle namednot then disenchants. engine ofsorrow’s dissemination, theenginethatenchants redemption, Itistheengineofeternal isaharp? What the singer mourned, too. hissong drove grieve made theworld looked,Orpheus waslostonce more. andEurydice Asthe not look uponreturned heruntilthey tothesurface. the dead. on theconditionOrpheus They released Eurydice of eyes of the rulers tears fromdescended charmed the dry and lyre. fate, hisbeloved metheruntimely When Orpheus make inanimatenature move withnothingmore thanvoice Orpheus. Already withhissong, beastsand hecouldcharm figure thaninthatfounding ofmore clear art,Western . immemorial Time nowhere over mortality: as triumph Art spans centuries. the emblemofeternity, andthe development ofitsdisaster No returns.” traveller life?The fantasyofeternal is Theharp Hamlet put it, country,“undiscovered from / whosebourn jointheminthedark we never and, will into believing as ourselves composed things but trick of lifeless make worlds Necrocracy, ofthedead. therule How dothedead rule? We Petrochemical Harp ina Immortality Intimations of . What’s a harp made of? Fantasies ofimmortality.. made of? aharp What’s Also, I made a harp of disaster of aharp I made rule andconfuseoursteps The dead At once the Soul ofeach,At once theSoul andGodofall? andvast,Plastic one breeze, intellectual That tremble intothought, as o’er themsweeps framed, diversely Be butorganicHarps And ofanimatednature whatifall Louise Glück,Louise Song” “Lute Frank Bidart, the “In Western Night” over a harp ofplasticstrings. over aharp time. Now timeiscoatedinpolymers, andthewindsbrush played ofnaturethat art atthefrequency andcouldsuspend intosong. coaxtheirharps nylon asthey Oncewe believed

Nylon polymer 74 Nylon polymer of thegrates, me intheface. flicking snappingoutfrom blueribbons thewind cheery oftheairconditioner wall, the steepcliff I thinkasstandinBestBuy, facing theGeorgiansareMaybe on tosomething, you are worked up,When you are alive. that lives onandextreme fear emotions. heat, concoctions akilnfor inthiscountry through himselfslithering themind-melting the Devil For of thefolk Tblisi, thesnakessealedit: iswinning. orSatan either Godisangry disaster: ofdeserved readsShe thefingerprints to thatplace in atmidnight. we believe all the two thousandyears underthecross under thehammerandsickle, yearsbeyond theseventy their dataandadmonitions, reached back looked pastthejeremiads ofscientists into the system,Tblisi sewage Mrs. Beniasvili had beenshoveled offthestreets, dumped of locusts—gold asFritos, pucks— bigashockey against herbrow, thesameweek skeletons ofFantaa coldcan pressed scuttledacross scorpions herbed, When HeatGeorgian

Nancy Hechinger 76

Nylon polymer

Nylon polymer 78 Chrstine Hume sudden death, years and several before the word “nylon” pregnancy, lessthana year hisbeloved sister’s intomourning birthday, hisforty-first after trimester ofhis wife’s inthefirst 1937, took place atthecrossroads ofthebiological: two days and intensifythepoison’s effect. Hissuicide, 29,on April solution would inacitric quicken cyanide dissolving knew fromhooch mushroom alocal farmer. Asachemist, he three otherDuPont scientists, bootleg andbeganbuying Acres,since hemoved into Whiskey ahouseheshared with fiber’s thesynthetic during chain watch development,ever on his ofpotassiumcyanide He had acapsule beenwearing cocktail.a hotelroom acyanide anddrank inPhiladelphia “fiber 6-6” patent, (nylon polymer) himselfinto checked he Twenty Wallace after days HumeCarothers the appliedfor time, aimsatsomething common.” artifice consents substancewhich tobeprosaic…for thefirst cal change. Yet plasticis, notes, RolandBarthes “the firstmagi- forms. We projected intoplastic’s ourselves to will material magic we thoughtwasdead, new coming inperplexed tolife plummetedusintoacollective dream,Plastic of aheritage Parachute the skirt. The heats,nylon fuses, and refuses toopen. the bra,canopy into the shape of an enormous blown against the called “Mae West,” suspension inwhich linescontort in thepush. malfunction tomindaparachute This brings dows, shouted, they punched, hair, andpulled fainted they erupted. For ninemonths, shopperssmashedshowcase win- amere for 13,000 pairs—theNylonin Pittsburgh Riots Francisco,store inSan 30,000linedupinNew York; 40,000 meeting thedemand—10,000women gathered outsidea to domestic affairs.DuPontWhen couldn’t close to come thewar, during and sacrifice nownylons promised a return Here! Nylons on Sale!” with the allure of scarcity Loaded echoed: succinctly thatheadlines stockings “Peace, It’s anaggressivelaunched promotional nylon for campaign In August 1945, Japan’s justaweek after surrender, DuPont extent we go tobeloved. genderedfutures parts, through cartoonishly if gender is the We grew accustomed toouramendedbodies. We sawour and warfare, of courtship In rituals nylon extends the body. orfly,to strut isalsoaprosthetic. orparachute astocking on theimage ofa “plastic aorta.” For ahumanwhowishes abolished: asingleone replaces themall.” Barthes’ essay ends sole pleasure ofusingthem. The hierarchy ofsubstancesis of beingused: ultimately, beinvented objectswill the for writes,Barthes swallowed upinthefact iswholly “Plastic used nylonstobereprocessed fliers. Army for asparachutes of itwent andtire toparachutes cords. Women donated 90% ofDuPont’s nylonwent intostockings; by 1942, all useasareplacement Japanesesilk. for to military In1940, War II, itsnylonproduction DuPont from shifted consumer legs.parade ofuniform entered AstheUnitedStates World atthewhiffofdeathcomingnylon’s off slightly titillated We atnylon’s marveled image ofinfinitetransformation; we spider’s web”—and industry. thenylonstocking heralded “fashioned intofilamentsasstrong assteel, asfinethe from coal, fabricated image—“wholly water, andair” yet domain. Nylon’s 1939press release ofits sought a rebirth impersonates life. and reinforces Death imitates life its is apolymer, thecodeoflife, butinstead ofcracking it was consumed by his own invention. Just like DNA, nylon excreted fromflesh. decaying We wondered ifCarothers human corpses” by usingcadaverine, areeking chemical silkfibermightbetomakeitoutof synthetic the new 1938, that reported newspapers “one toprepare oftheways Carothers’s following Immediately patent’s approval in chemistry, wasteinto toturn worth. we meantheeffort to findmeaningorinspiration inhis work.When we say commercial of his ideas, applications the harder he failed children. And themore DuPont pressured himtoproduce reactions, an exchange of properties. Carothers didn’t want burst intobeing. chain of a These elementsbondedform to

Nylon polymer 80 Nylon polymer frees meandmypetroleum prayer dissolves. oftoxic smoke herbetween thegrapevines untilshe follow when shewalksinfront ofme. leaves smear. awarm She I’ll cutting plastic from her. plasticas I follow has no face She bending and weaving through a meadow on fire.can’t I stop Icome down myqueeniswalkinglikeasleeper,When plastic from plastic from plastic drinking the plastic forest. from thatIamblind. sugared myself plastic and tell Icut don’t outofbouldercracks. pushthemselves Iscissorthem The flowers shewants don’t and branches hanginjuniper me flowers thathave nocolor. Ihave seenameadow.” never says: She islight to aburstofnylon polymer? “Find What drench toherandinasecond herinlight.back delirium and already dying. theplasticflower liveforever? Ipant Will suns find dense morning on stems, born golden asters newly yellows. I have seen a meadow.” never Near a glacial lake I that awounded deerhaswalkedthrough. says: She “Yellows, give them to the plastic flower, who wears them likewater towhereup thecrags red columbineslive anddieofred. I the flushed red flowers.” clamber Mountain me goatswatch herwithlilies. Iavalanche white delirium says: She want “I vase. theflower themfor pull queeninginherwaterless Ina half-waking stone towhere theliliesghost. Bytheroots I surviving.”softly themountainofhalf-sleeping, Iclimb want toseethealpineliliesthatresemble littlesnows, The flowernever seenameadow whohas tome: says “I Plastic Flower “The Air Flower” Air “The loose Mistral’s Gabriela translation of a very

Cecily Parks 82 Paraffin

Paraffin 84 Kellie Wells sucked the sacrifice from thesacrifice sucked her lips. wiped from hismouththe bodyshehad broken himand for mummery, thedesolation ofsalvation, andwithherhairshe saw inthisman’s darkening mouth, couldhearinthevacant no more satiable, thanbefore. nolessempty Indeed, she gather above heragaintonight, would benomore charitable, she sawthenthatthemouths ofmen, thosethatwould The man’s stained lips murmured, undulatedlikewater, and must feed. necessarily deity understood,an suddenly victualupon any which isthevery creationnew withsorrow, ahabitatfecund which, thewom moon would lastbeseendimmingabove aboilingsea, this and whose sky diluvian would beuninhabitableby clouds itsanimals, all evict systematically theone whosepoisoned weather would mutineer, turn thatwould one day theworld paradise andacreator’s love, volcanic whosevery theworld both this one:survived thathad heedlessly thesaved world tongue, up in the wake of that would rise she saw the world withher shegrasped ownthecontroversial finally When her eyes fixedcalefaction on the ofhismouth. hadren deedsthey yet ofpastsinsandthewicked tocommit, and shestrode thebreth toward Jesusashestoodcleansing The woman pressed herlipstogether, theblood, distributing the world. of eyes asshewalkedthrough toherfeet thewhettedrubble in aplace likewine—andsoshekepther where bloodruns slaughter—it wasafailingbodyhadappetite for toconceal was adelicacy. The womanregretted had always havinglittle where anorgan, long such for inaworld seasoned, properly tined todieof. thattendercouldbeallowed No tobeat heart mouth opening, this man was like des the wounds she knew tongued onto herlips, theredness andshefelt spread, her pleasing resistance ofthefleshamelon. Thebloodshe and shebitdown on theinsideofher lip, had which the Deep in her abdomen the decisive she felt tug of animpulse low, astar, theeyes oftheimminentdead. toward theman, through hishandfalling theairlikeaswal she fingered her skin in search of a sacrifice. She stepped meant sheneedn’t dieofthecreeping infections ofmen, and insideitsthrottledswarm longing, amouthwhoseinfinitude was an authentic mouth, thefirst,caused herbodyto that Here now before her, hanginginthewanlightofevening, her torise. thestrewnremains morning reassembled andbid but every ravening inthe darkness,a tonguefleshdissolve andwatched something toswallow, andshegave themherthroat, abreast, floated above the woman, small, greedy absencesseeking kindness.of supernatural Throughout the nights, mouths man appeared fatigued, worn thinfrom theexhaustinglabor see were hislips, plumpandhopefulasababy’s cheek. The air andconjure from nourishment sawdust, shecould all heard somuch about, thesalty the one who could charm thewoman sawJesus,When thesentimentalsorcerer she’d Sacrament - - - -

Paraffin 86 Paraffin

Paraffin 88 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) invisibly. collectionwobbling oftheenormous comeeven inbecause Now, ifyou stoodinthatopeningyou’d it. ruin You can’t care less. Itlooks likestaticcoming down handover fist. two doorsinshotgunfashion. standinthisone. I’ll Icouldn’t plastic,clear vs. ginvs. vodka vs. tapvs. Voss. Aroom with of water. thinking. Including glass versus A matter of clear paper inthewind, andwind. Think ofthebottlesand the ice. Your lenses. oftracingpaper, Astack alsotracing We couldn’t bemore minimal. That plastic cup, including An collection of transparencies. enormous was left? What After

Lucy Corin 90 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 92 Lucy Corin nothing butsuspendedeyes. attheoceansurroundedsitting withhersalad by inadesert and then, plankby plank, thepier, disappeared untilshewas herasitembywatch item, signposts, trashcans, pedestrians, couldn’t hadto turned inthecafé seeitanymore everyone one boat.only Itwent by, sailsgushing, andby thetimeshe by. shecouldsee andstill on theharbor Itwasamarina breath likeatrain. felt More peoplelooked up. Aboatwent way, andthentheotherway. peoplelooked up. Afew Her ate, glasses. clinking inherchair, sharply turned She this tial dimension. seemedhappy Everyone asbunnies. Bunches A boatmade ashapeagainst thesky, withpoten- atriangle metal frame. looked around, She theedges feeling ofpanic. the mottledglass tabletop. The top wobbled initswhite a mountaininfront ofher. couldseeherkneesthrough She bitesofthesalad, took anotherfew She loomed which like ered. thetablearoundThen shescooched on thecement. underasecondadded foot. abottlecap The third- foot hov re-arrange napkin a folded under one of its three feet. She the marina. bites she bent under the table to few Every at salad was eating an enormous at an outdoor café She Sails, Hull, Jibs

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 94 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

Polycarbonate (PC) 96 Polycarbonate (PC)

Polycarbonate (PC) 98 Timothy Morton humanshave become extinct,—After there beclusters will humans, thatis?And despitehumans?Consider: theirlife of chairs? you considered ever after Their life the afterlife Chairs. justsitthere,They and you sit on them. Buthave Jar Binks. thanjackals,makes itsoundlessimportant janitors, orJar Ah, theinnocenceofchair. We itanobject, call which 1. Chair Plexiglass of chairs. —There morechairs thanpeopleinaspace. are always —Design 101 classes teach you todesignachair.—Design 101classes —Chairs shorten humanlife.—Chairs shorten —Humans have becomevectors. chair Take astand! Astandagainstthechair! I have achair, therefore Iamacitizen. and now, age, inourdemocratic must have a chair. everyone for thekingoremperor,first for theircohorts, butgradually to siton theirvanquished foes. From thisarose thechair— or whatever. armies gotitintotheirheadsThen conquering For a long time humans squatted or sat in the lotus position, System.the Solar A humanisachair’s way ofpropagating itselfthroughout human being. Like avirus, can’t achair reproduce on itsown—it needsa

Polycarbonate (PC) 100 Timothy Morton presence—reality ismade ofsome kindofgooey stuff, like science.modern At thesametime, adefaultmetaphysics of successors. wasdemystified,The world thefor way clearing engine, withitsfearsomegeophysical impact andthatofits physics; andtheAnthropocene, atfirst driven by thesteam ofmeta- through theheart thestakeofmodernity drive isstrange,It really thatcoincidenceofKant, whobeganto we act, we create ourown reality.” thus: themselves described “We’re anempire now, andwhen century), are like members of the Bush Administration, who (a strangecoincidence: bothbeganinthelateeighteenth people,Kantian and peoplelivingintheAnthropocene it any way I wish. is to say, of us moderns—that All post- into its constituent goo, the world dissolve and reconstitute face I seem to beThe able smiley to nihilism with which form.nihilism inchair somebody’s head” (Peter Gabriel). Goophilosophy ishappy the buildings, ofthecars, all / Were once justadream in Like elections, philosophies have consequences. “All of from Ikea.ery form,chair themetaphysics ofpresence deliv- availablefor transparent goo.from some underlying Itismetaphysics in looksBut aplexiglasschair likeitemerged, one fineday, move some themetaphysics philosophers call . presence of more-realness consists inbeingmore present—a constantly ofDNAstrand ismore real thanasquirrel, andthatthis we are moderns preventedHappily from thata saying of DNA,strand nor is a squirrel a poem about a squirrel. representations andevolution. And yet asquirrel isnota andbehaviorscultural ascells kindsofthingssuch all As we now know, atsquirrels, whenyou look closely you find school. primary ”—gets taughtin “stuff arethis view—things made of matter and matter is gooey squirrels,some kind of goo underlies chairs, and trees. Yet ence depend on this revolution. Itisn’t accurate to say that about what a thing is. thought and sci- Contemporary why one couldn’t justgo around one whatever likes saying later eighteenthcentury, explained whenHumeandKant haspersistedway pastitssell-byThis defaultview date: the likecupcakes. withcolorsandotherproperties rated of substances and accidents: lumps,theory flavorless deco- is made ofgoo. This istheold, old-fashioned Aristotelian ductile goo. ismade An ofgoo. iPhone Aplexiglasschair of ductilegoo. formed Apinetree issome kindofspecially thisworld.tile goo underlies extrusion Asquirrel isacertain The illusionofplexiglassmaterialism: duc- some infinitely chairs. reproduction withthemindless ofmorenicely andmore extraction ofmore andmoreThe mindless oilintersects 2. Nature isaplexiglasschair. come toanotherconclusion. Nature. thiscycling call Some thespike, Butafter we can the Anthropocene, withitsglobalwarming. collapsed. Now spikes: we of disconcerting live in a world therevolutionsgenerated theneedfor by thecycling which machinations.result oftheseagricultural Machinations that systems. ofEarth cycling unusual periodic Itwasadirect shows thatinthelast10,000years there wasan Geology sive socialdivision. Environmental diseases. plastic chair. Result: Population explosion. Patriarchy. Mas- “pests.” aspossible. makeitasuniform Let’s Smooth, likea plant whatIlikeon—and let’s eliminatethe “weeds” and fence offjustsoand can ofstuffthatI is astandingreserve that arose intheFertile Crescent: around humans theworld agriculture had gone viral, tenthousandyears—the for one of form a certain Revolution happened because Agricultural Revolution. oftheAgricultural happened because The I wishpredates thermoplastics. Revolution The Industrial can manipulatejustas asplastic ofgooI The view reality inaniceplexiglasschair? children? Sit best ofintentions. doesn’t Who wanttolive? Makemore hardwiredthermoplastic—was life. intomodern the With

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Polycarbonate (PC) 102 Michael Mejia Oakland Tegucigalpa Toronto Spectacle”:5 YouTube Videos C “A hugs it, exitsright. his chair, recording with his phone. the chair, Helifts We’re backwards, dollying himretreating following with helmet,Ski goggles. “There’s nothingpeace about you!” camera’s LCD. He’s taking another photo. “Fuck you!” holdsherhandstoears.She He’s his checking Car alarm. you“If donotdisperseyou may bearrested!” insteadturns ofsnappingapic. scatter,They back. fall Flashbangs, teargas, breaking glass. The Asiankidducks, anarchist A’s. He’s crouched behindared chair. wingback line. withpeace Handmade signs, shieldsspraypainted “You’re beingrecorded!” their formed own They’ve shouting “POLICE! POLICE! POLICE!” accompanied by Ambrose awailingguitarandBrigadier the boys advancing, accelerating theirbombardment they’re away, backing retreat, inadisorganized scattering Now aMolotov’s explodedwhere thecopswere and yards away, twenty. Now something’s there. back burning the boys coming across themedian, getting bolder, forty together inaprotective wall. Hethrows at arock back on thecorner,cops are huddled holdingtheirshields slingshots.firing atripod. Hecrossescarrying These away. ablock tear gaserupting stones,They’rechucking through a crowd cart Fogata, trots outside La her torta She wrong withyou?” hand out. “We’re people! fucking We’re people! What’s someone shouts. “Are you kidding?” fucking Heputsa I supposedtogo!” “Are you okay?” sheasks. “Asshole,” eye.opening acutover hisleft am “Fuck! thefuck Where shouting “Move!” Officer11909slamshisshieldintohim, spitsagain,Someone andthecopscome on, batons out, slow advance. spits. Someone “Fuck you!” awoman yells. 60 others, surrounded by gear. copsinriot begina They arrested.” She’s sittingintheintersection withabout “So, ifyou wantedtoget outyou seriously would get amera’s Not Expression, It’s Part the of Brussels Ankara wire intoplace. back Here comes themilk. grey hasfallen. jacket Herolls away. the The copspull his baton over thewire, doesn’t connect. That guyinthe cops’ faceshields, blindsthem. Helunges forward, swings Now they’re away dragging the barrier. Milk films the by thelineofbikes. Tires, green gascan. Horns, whistles. plaza, walkway overhead. curved Not water: milk. A fire wire behindbarbed intheglass-walled the copsranked pops. Drums, shouts, cowbells. Now they’re hosingdown windows with a fire hose. A photographer. Echoing Red sweatshirt, blueballcap, thesecond floor spraying photographer. Two peace signs. Onefist. withananarchistone A. spraypainted for the pose They a man in jeans. of appropriated shields advances, A wall a red crate. Onecop’s limping, by anotherand supported banners. scarf. hat. conical Burberry Striped He’s toting as protesters the spot, swarm stones, hurling waving red one drops hisshield. That down.one falls escape They the crowd.calm cops run. Five The others collide. This some concrete chairs, public art. Hands up, to he tries peltingshields.Stones These copsare against backed Pops andhisses. Gas. andwhistles. Shouts Breaking glass.

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Polycarbonate (PC) 108 Doug Watson something terrible about to happen to onesomething fish? of his fellow terrible went on sparking. him? totell Was were trying they What rock. torest Hecame inasoft, muddy area ashisbones control ofhismovements andbanged hishead againsta in hisbody went electric. He got a jolt that he lost such option athingtodo, for his only bone every whensuddenly along by himself, hishabitbutalsobasically aswasnotonly of hislife. Here ishow ithappened. Hewasswimming ent from was given thegreatest otherdays—Bill prophecy endsourpreamble.So - differ Oneday—a day nototherwise liked nothingbetterthantobewelcomed intotheschool. insult.) is aterrible Yet hewould have ofhearts inhisheart beneath me. (Among bottom feeders, “You are beneath me” blank stare atthemandthought, but didnotsay, You are all having losthisgift.began teasinghimfor a justleveled Bill hispropheciessharing withtheothers, whoimmediately wouldn’tthey acknowledge it. a while, After stopped Bill listen, thathe’d whenitwasobvious andeven beenright the other fish about it.to tell But of course they wouldn’t neither bad orgood, itinhis bones, felt Bill andhetried bad thingwasabouttohappen, oragood thing, orathing and more feelings like prophecies.run-of-the-mill a When As hispowers developed, Bill’s lesslike became innerfeelings eyes andsay, “Go away now, one.” ugly The otherfish wouldlaughathimandthenblinktheircold their species. don’t“I know,” would Bill say, was true. which the otherfish,for colorwasaconcept that wasn’t availableto seecolors.”my bones can doyou mean, colors?”“What said over here,”having alotoffeelings hewould say, or “It’s like hehad.life Not thathedidn’t themaboutit. totell try “I’m to know Bill, mighthave inner they discovered whatarich was too bad,Which had taken the time to get they because tom feeders. earlier.ostracized They were lot, anunforgiving thesebot- he reached hismaturity, havingbeen for hewasostracized of hereggsaround where mightfindthem. Bill And then, as amoment would for considerfemale even leavingmillions Bill: asayoung fish, no for beingsougly; hewasostracized it wasn’t places, intheright ifthatgives you any idea. Poor member. Bill, With theusualbulbousnesswasthere, all but hewasa bulbousspeciesofbottomwhich feeder eously Bill. fish, wasanugly Bill even by thestandards ofthehid- the narrative’s momentum we arehim going tocall forward named Brbtbtbpppccdddddffttfffddbr, forthesakeof but was The prophetcharacter ofthisstory whoisthemain prophets tobeprophets. donotchoose Nay, are they chosen. that way isnotquiteright, that beentrue ithasalways for if you wantedto, ifyou even were afish. Except toputit was young and world a prophet was a thing you could be fish wasalsoaprophet. Thiswas eons ago, whenthe back There wasafishthatnotjustfish—for yea,verily, this FishThe That Was Fish NotJusta soon inhisopinion, whatitwastobedesired. wouldBill at long last come to know, and not a moment too mud, to, noonehisgood totell news yea, same thatvery one, alone inthe theone whoatthismoment waslying whenlo!Bill, arrive eventually one, theugly theunwanted he understoodtheprophecy correctly, theday wasfatedto still, ooze—but ofsome kind ofgeneralized to bepart if behimselfanymore—iteven soundedasifhewasjustgoing For yea, sure, itwould bemany eons hence, wouldn’t andBill washappiness.that thenameoffeeling washappy! Bill although he’d itbefore, experienced never heunderstood his tail. wasjoltingthrough feeling him. Anew Somehow, seafloor,for waterand trembling gasping from hislipsto At this, Bill’s silent. bones fell He lay there on the muddy like gods, ofyou, all passive gods. albeitessentially destiny oftheentire globe. Inotherwords, you become will have,as well asthespecialqualitiesthey alterthe will they the heavens, where, ofthesheernumberthem because crude, you. burn Thus purified, riseupinto yoursoulsshall waters and, refining after you intosomething findless they seekyouwill outandfind you, bring you from beneaththe breeda new of creatures covet you. of the land will They dark ooze. ye shall slumber—long butnotforever. Long For died, you be, will over along time, intoarich, pressurized said. In the eons to come, you your and all after kind have No, his bones said, it’s nothing like that. Listen up, they just around thecorner? Was ofrotten cache plantmatter rich there aparticularly

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Polypropylene (PP) 112 Polypropylene (PP) in photographs, endless. butintoxicating andliterally thatgleamendlessly,and trashiness likefakegrins of the Technicolor age, unsinkablemisfitsoftruth of Monet’s Levant”—messengers “Soleil (Iswearor even Iseethemthere) thebackground Antilles, and down theHudson totheDutch remnants ofacertain, hopefulindustry) picturesque (such past thefactories again, intolarger streams andrivulets, them through, underground channeled andout the corrugated, plasticdrainage tubeswe lived tosee in brooks asboatshave made theirway by now beyond Fisher cups childrenwe The Price® dropped PastoralPerpetual

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Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 116 Ruth Ozeki your tongue withthe plug on itatyour baby sisterandmake tongue usingsuction. Ifyou live still athome, you wiggle can tothetipofyour theairoutandmakeplugstick suck the plug’s littlehole. mouth, Ifyou have aclever you can hollowstem.and ashort You press can your tongue against There’s cap flat alittleplugattheendofBicwithsharp I waseatingthewholeprong and thenthewholecap, too. akindofsatisfactionbringing andahunger more. for Soon ofthechallenge, part the sensation ofswallowing became swallowinginstead,got introuble spittingIstarted for so break off, andatfirstIusedtospitthem out, butwhenI ping on itwithmybigfront teeth. littleslivers Sometimes thinIcouldmakeitby bitingandtap- to seehow papery mangled andflatasthinpaper.challenge, Itwasmy in your pocket. on thatprong Iusedtochew untilitwas Blue...with thatirresistible prong thatkeepsthepenupright bluetobethemostdelicious.found green, butthefirst one Iatewasblue,I’veever since and BicswereMostly blueandred andblack, andsometimes themBics. justcalls that nameanymore andnow everyone penwasthe ballpoint Crystal,”“Bic butnobodyremembers onecap.ballpoint withtheconical The properfor that name I remember thefirsttimeIswallowed. ItwasaBicpen, the flavors. on on theirfresh themwhilesucking chewed andminty Toothbrushes were next, butIdidn’t usedtoeatthem. Ijust to pacify andsoothemewhen Iamupsetandcrying. to pacify me. Ever sincethatmoment, plastichasthepower and crying, andMotherputaplasticnippleintomymouth When I was a baby,The first time? of course. I was teething eat amagpie, unless it wasplastic. disorder.have thePica isjustwhoIam. Plastic Iwould not eat anything, Idon’t. butactually eat plastic. Ionly Idon’t So Pica, word istheLatin which for “magpie” magpies because People say Ihave adisorder. for itisa name The medical Immortal only one or two, or else they’ll notice and I’ll get introuble). one ortwo,only noticeandI’ll orelsethey’ll eattheminthepark.later Ican Ihave tobecarefuleat adollar, buyabouquetofplasticdaisiesfor I can andthen (sometimes Iamallowed togostore, intoadollar where keyboards, mybrother’s helmet. football flowers Plastic olives, eatthe olives), butInever credit cards, computer buttons),rubbery swords cocktail usefor (thekindthey packaging, plastic soldiers, remoteTV controls (with nice latte (aslong asthere’s toit). stuck nomilkfoam Clamshell glasses. iced The round dome-shaped lidsfromStarbucks a bottles, bottlecaps. Combs, earbuds, icecubetrays, sun- I alsolikethefollowing: buttons, beads, sodabottles, water containers.and plastic food of these things. I like to eat all knives and forks, disposablecups likeyou get on airplanes areCD cases alsomade from polystyrene, too. are plastic So chew. inyour feeling as you mouththatkeepschanging satisfying when you do, shards itsplintersintosmall thatleave avery describe. You it, have touseyour molarstocrunch back but texture was. polystyrene theamorphous brittle It’s hard to at how The firsttimeIatethebarrel ofaBicIwassurprised the point, init.) hastheball which tungstencarbide,called Iwould eat. which never Ispitout point, isnotmade ofplastic. metal Itismade ofavitrified andamorphous.words: nib, semi-crystalline (The orball of polystyrene, amorphous. iscompletely which Ilove these thenib. isalsocalled which The hexagonal barrel ismade long barrel thatishexagonal likeapencilandalsothepoint, plastic.crystalline ofaBicare the The hardparts andbrittle tube. areThey made of polypropylene, isa semi- which ofaBicarecap, the parts chewy The theplugandink trouble withyour aideifyou’re notcareful. the insideofyour mouth goblue, all get you can which in delicious. andpliablechewy, Itisdelicate butitmakes to it. of the ink that clings smell even moreThe ink tube is her laugh. delicious on account ofthe The plugisespecially

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Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 118 Ruth Ozeki Super-clean. Pure. Immortal. alongfor long time. dead,That’s perfectly inmybook.Safe. andalgae—that haveorganisms—zooplankton beendead intothiscategory.tic falls comes from tiny, Plastic precise forcespurified by the ofheatandtimepressure.Plas- andhardsmall andhave beendeadlong for enoughtobe dead. Not dead enough. like eating things that are I only peas. Meatsare notlivingthings, are recently butthey only colis, are biglivingthings, are ifthey assquishy even assmall gogross they rotten. because Vegetables, likestinkybroc- I donotliketoeatbiglivingthings. Biglivingthingsare say you are whatyou eat. Idonotliketoeatorganicmatter. There’s precision ineatingplastic.clean andtidy. It’s They was super-precise. timer.Once Iateakitchen Itwasshapedlikeanegg. That and baggy. Too imprecise. I had a panic attack. with plastic bags. Same Too shapeless ofasphyxiatingafraid soIspititout. myself You couldsay toeataballoononce,I tried andIwas butitwastoochewy when nobodyislooking, them. lick Iwill room, look Ithink themoldedplastic chairs delicious, and arewhich gross. furniture. Lawn Sometimes, inthewaiting swatterswould bedelicious,Fly too, excepttheflyguts, for

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Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 122 Nicole Walker through theline, thatthesloganalsoappliestoyou. possible, ifyou needitto. Myhopeis, asIshakethefructose long-term commitment. PlasticsMakeitPossible®, love even shells. Fruit istheopposite ofgalaxy and areason this for ensconced? You love cherries. will - intheirclam Blueberries become accustomed. How elsetokeepthegroceriessafely weyou towhich all intoyour isarash asithitches heplock on it. rash The on fromrubbing against your arm thetube Plastic. Ipromise. You get will usedtoit, your depends life Don’t go. andtheIVbagitstubing shouldletyou go.gravity flowing through you shouldflow theother direction, that holehaveshould lettheblack you back, thattheneutrinos plastic, and thus, this wholeearth, nearly that I wonder ifI tolatexbutall notonly from whatmay beanallergy when bloodpressure plummetsandyou red turn over all ing, whenyour eyes substance,over film withtheir own oily this gravity. whenmyfingers from Itisonly ache the pressing you. keep They you tethered tothisground, thislight, gloves, syringe, mask, cannula. The plasticshave- beenwatch Your hasbeenattendedby wholelife plastic—incubator, works.as gravity from insunny quotients. thebagdrips work Iwill ashard justonefor second. Ishouldmakesure thefluidthatdrips fleshiness between myfingers. thetube Ishouldsqueeze My jobon thisplanetis to reach toward thetube, holdits you torise. help youthis IV up.bag will rise I would give for anything quantum thangravity. takeyou only will down and Gravity anti. itbemore lightthandarkness. Let itbemore Let throughdrips tubesintoyou. it bemore matterthan Let holecollapsing.sign ofthatblack Oh thesubstancethat then theIVbagholdingyou up, today, mydaughter, isthe ing down on usfrom thefuture from emerged, they which that weIf it’s are true held - up by fall nothing but neutrinos IV Bags

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Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 128 Abigail Simon long view:to give up your attachmentto notions ofstasis/ isthat you have totakethe The thingaboutimmortality free? converters setit like agenie inalampuntilourcatalytic in these cells, andtrapped locked that became slumbering the version tofruition oftheuniverse tobring mechanism Perhaps purgelike peons)theearth? can we are the only magnitude longer from that it has taken us to evolve shrew- phytoplankton (who, let’s face it, had dominion orders of ones who live, whose combustible engines fire, so that the also know thetop: thebottom isreally we perhaps are the inlakesoftar—Igetmicroorganism that). struggling I but from phytoplankton (somuch more difficulttodepict and Iknow we donotget ouroilfrom Wooly Mammoths shift, and floating. leaving us stranded Now I am an adult, ordersBut symbolic are unreliable, to andhave atendency died sothatwe mightlive. ofredemption—these mammoths,form wooly likeChrist, thatourappropriation oftheiranimalbodiesisa it isclear this image long enough, enough, andswallow itdeeply and aflavor.we are butsimply notadisruption Infact, look at the Natural Order…All beingslive, starve, anddie— suffer in caused by humanintervention suffering ofcruel evidence ral World preempts one at the might feel any discomfort processes world. of the natural Natu- This ideaof the Cruel caused by the suffering of the cruel this image is evidence I aminitiatedintomany “truths”: encodedintheDNA of many agents and messengers.carrying Through this image in hell. Perhaps thisimage isa thisisbecause Trojan horse, it. Ithinkofitoften, asitisanimage ofhorror, likealake inthisimage,I amstuck astheanimalsdepictedin assurely we live. andpropel present thefuture inwhich to lubricate perfect these prehistoric beings lived and died (and suffered) was engine. Decoded correctly, seethatthereason anycan child pointingto revealed asnotonly “us” buttothecombustion through ofevolution is a gazingball the entirety which snarling, by trapped herown greed. The image isaparable, and is atigerbeast, asapickpocket—angry asopportunistic pooling sadness asrelentless asthetaritself. Ridingherback water, herfeet, tolift struggles hereyes withadeep filling drinking wasmistakingdeathfor crime sloth?) whoseonly present. (a mastodon? A gentle a giant giant of some sort istobecomewhich theengineandessenceofinevitable are trapped, destiny— againstaninescapable struggling BeastsofthePast Strange (anotherbook—another story) and yellow grasses. Inthecenterisavastlakeoftarinwhich soothing, dioramas—ochre skies alien paletteofPleistocene it isasvividaphotograph: isrendered thelandscape inthe know itmust have beenadrawing, althoughinmymemory old, arelic. Oil. Inthebook of wasadrawing—I TheStory Iwasachild,When Ihad abook—a book that wasalready Oil of The Story the inevitable, one. inalakeoftarisonly andbeingstuck therethe dice—perhaps are manytobeconsumed ways by anotherroll timefor of meansthere isalways Immortality intobeing? so thatanunimaginablefuture struggle can mean humans, butpolarbears, hippos, frogs, bees)suffering areunimaginable illustration we (andby “we” Idon’t just ofchlorophyll andsunlight,tyranny whatthen?In ifyouit disturbs...but thinkofitasliberation, from the process the atmosphere oftranslating ascorruption, and sentimental attachmenttoablueplanet? Think ofthis fromSeen farenoughaway, one hastoask—Why this all sensitive tochange. and overly ing, gun-toting, phanstasma-philic ofsentiment bipedsfull mammals:with mammals—particular bipeds, pants-wear- time bombs, correcting aplanetthathasbecome for overrun means...Perhapseternity theseancientanimalsare simply andacceptconstant theeternal ofchangethat normality

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Polystyrene (PS) 132 Oliver Kellhammer cancer ward inMississauga, ward cancer Ontario onedayeach week. both. volunteers Dad from remission attheCredit Valley Hospital non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma andcolon cancer, in butiscurrently restaurants. McDonald’s of areas from Now 81, hehassuffered thekitchenan inexpensive substitutewalltilesinconstructing for concrete blocks widely usedas which plastic-fronted were made to take inCooksville, another Ontario to aplant that help run pellets. polystyrene Ontario thatmanufactured He quitthatjob nearPreston, inafactory Jim)Kellhammerwhoworked ( masks. Itwasn’t you! nice I tell very keep on putting wateron around itandyou with gas run youerful couldn’t aboutit, doanything you know. You just a we reaction.” called “violent And so, you....It was so pow- Dad: Well itcouldhave beenanexplosion butitwaswhat gas givingoff—orwhathappened? something—you would have what?An explosion orwasit O: ifitwent wrong then, So ifitdidn’t or mixproperly O: Ofstyrene…. hundred poundblocks. and we endedupwithheavyblocks, you know, abouttwo we and put cooled water it into offthe outside of the frames Xnumberofhours andthenwetors for bakeditandthen this stuff...well we cooked, we cooked thestuffin reac - Dad: Itwasliquid. anaccelerator...without Itwasactually that? how didyou handle O: And whatdidthatstufflook like? Was itlikeliquidor peroxide. andbutyl perbenzoate Dad: Butyl...butyl O: peroxide? And that’sThe butyl acatalyzer? there inorder tospeedup the reaction. We peroxide andwe had in toputbutyl had acatalyzer this stuffintothose catalyzed.reactors butitofcoursewas eachandwe pumped thousandpoundsofstyrene to twelve tanks outsideandwe hadreactors four thattook aboutten andwe hadPolymer thosebigstorage inSarnia Corporation and what happened was we from got tank cars Dow and Dad: Yeah, so I was more...I the reactor was running room In ’59? O: when you were born. thing aboutanything. anyway, So Iendedupasaforeman Dad: Well, there Ididn’t Istarted Iwas....When know any- wasyour jobthere? What O: Right. inPreston. meabouttheplasticfactory tell So I Part IdidonMarch 24 interview transcript a of a telephonefrom drawn are excerpts following The Reactions Violent th *** , 2013withmyfather, Joachim

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Polystyrene (PS) 134 Seth S. Horowitz only as a sign of our defunct civilization? Or will it serve as itserve will Or asasignofour defunctcivilization? only batteries, consumer electronics, sensorsandmotors, exist plastictrash, this largely dead Will withpartially landfilled and what we thought of as trash. ruins leaving behind only half-lives shorter-sightedness, andeven chemical short In tenthousandyears, we may begone, victimsofourown fromformed acting codedinformation on organicmaterials. objects.physical are andplasticsystems built Biological coded plans. does the same, A 3D printer code into changing expression, buildingsolidlivingelementsfrom genetically from runs genetic Life codetoproteinmanufacturing? moreear or the pieces to construct 3D printers, is that mere aplastic inner andoutputs butadiene styrene of acrylonitrile contraction.muscle takesafilament whena3Dprinter So andour ourhearing amplifiersunderlie tied tobiological making more viruses. nanomotors molecule-sized Organic intoautomated for ourcells factories turns But avirus as a mere is denigrated product of manufacturing.Plastic to bere-shaped by theenvironment. thanreactive,to bestablerather ormillennia takingdecades fromformed ourwork andbasedon ourneeds, itiscreated organisms. Itshares chemistry, ourintrinsic butsinceitis dreds ofmillionsyears by thebreakdown ofmicroscopic created from over hun- petroleum wasformed inturn which different thanthoseoflivingthings. timeframe Plastic is changes, andform goes complex chemical just within a Yet from plasticisderived processes biological andunder- environmental asnear-eternal decried ifdisposed. pollutant phthalates harmful ifreused,sible source ofpotentially and burden once andmetaphorical empty,and aliteral apos- becomes on anannoyance ahotday almostinstantly run along after andemptiedsogratefully water bottlegrasped dependson whatit’s doneuslately.often for HDPE The ourlives, elsethatpermeates anything ourreaction toit Humans have acomplex relationship withplastic. Aswith mations andevolution inthecourseofdeeptime. non- undergo- and even living theirown materials transfor onoccur even ourown planetandthatnon-human small changesthat justatinycomprised subsetofthedynamic in theuniverse blindsustothefact thatourevolution has behavior andcultures principles are themostimportant human oftimethatframe insistencethatthescales Our we travel through arethat will thegalaxylong gone. after of years before thesunexistedandwe have sentoutprobes time. bodiesare theresult explosions ofstellar billions Our ormillennia.centuries And yet we are entangledindeep consider timebeyond changerarely afew things likeclimate werethey created. Even term” thosewhothinkabout “long which for purpose theshort-term as long serve as they only applianceoraplasticfork,a complex surgical are ofinterest evolution todevelop, oftechnological us centuries whether Humans have problems dealingwithtime. Things thattook myths andother Organic life same pathasouranaerobic ancestors. up anddestroy us, thatwe itseemsmore are likely on the intelligence,artificial the thingthat rise we create thatwill feared thegolem, theFrankenstein’s monster, thevengeful complexity.gen-breathing eukaryotic humans have While waste product—oxygen—and ofoxy- toaworld givingrise billions ofyears ago withtheir byown floodingthe world Anaerobic outofexistence poisoned bacteria themselves resources? one elsearound and toenjoy andbuildontheseriches all justsoandwonder touch whydiscarded iPhone there isno some againstabroken discardedtoy rub solarpanelanda successors? ourtrans-biological Will for the buildingblocks

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Polystyrene (PS) 138 Oliver Kellhammer Do you remember the littleguydownstairs? Poncho? andthenweDad: Street moved toMontgomery. OnQueen usedtosmell. alls thesameasyoursmell andyour shoesusedtosmell cover- something—and you would open upthebox anditwould kits, you know, fighterplaneor anairplane—a WWII for O: Yeah! Iremember openingupone ofthosemodels Dad: Polystyrene.... remember thesmell. O: Yeah! and it had the same smell. styrene It was all I Dad: The many...the many toys.... planes andeverything? of styrene. Doyou remember that—thoselittleplasticair- We were usedtobuildthosemodelsandthey made all out O: Well thelittletoys, andall you know, Ihad asakid. Dad: Yes, yes. tics were thefuture! O: Yeah, it’s likethatmovie, you know,Graduate— The plas- plasticwasthethingyouIn thosedays know.... bucks. couldmakeafew saw themoneyandthatthey didn’tthey just—they know[…]they much about itbecause Dad: And you know thepeoplewhoowned thefactories— stopped.and itnever Itwasa24-hourcycle. cooking aboutsixhoursandthenthebakingon for areactor Dad: We because, had three shifts you know, likeyou do the Were there lotsofothercrew? How many peopleworked there? You were theforeman. You used to come home the smell. and I could smell […] O: Yeah, Iremember from thesmell whenIwasalittlekid. shoes offwhen you come home. Dad: Yeah, stinkandyou andyour have totakeyour clothes O: Yeah, aplasticsmell. Dad: Well like—you smells. know how styrene like? the smell O: Yeah—so orwhatwas likeStyrofoam […]diditsmell Dad: hadThey fumes...yeah. mask on toum.... O: were they poisonous So fumesthen....You had toputa 2 Part Reactions Violent *** *** O: Oh, I see—that wastheforeman’s job. letsomebodynever [else]doit, you know.... Dad: Oh itisdangerous. Yeah, well, soIdidthisjoband dangerous.incredibly O: doingthat?Itsounds get didanybody hurt Oh god! So stop. thebest.hope for You where stopright you’re supposedto Dad: And they—you hadon abrake eachtankcar. You just O: Yeah.... didn’tthey stopinfront oftheoutlet. always rolling youstarts makesure you’re on thetankcar, because and go underthewheelandjustpushitthenwhen poundsof stuff init? has sixty-thousand You takeacrowbar in themorning. You know which how tomove atankcar thing there you know, attwo o’clock likewe moved tankcars Dad: Yeah itcame...we got itinthetankcars. We- didevery O: from And thatcame Sarnia, from factory? thechemical Dad: You couldseeitdieinfront ofyour eyes. YouO: ’em!killed the weeds and— took some stuffhome withmeatnightsandIdumpedit on over theplace,out all soIjusttookcan and afive-gallon Dad: We had aparking lotthere andthoseweeds coming O: Really? (shocked) weeds killed withitinthebackyard. styrene—I Dad: Yeah, yeah. You know what?Iusedthemonomer, the remember that. O: And you made us a sandbox in the yard of the—I together. Dad: Hewas your friend. You usedto be on thetricycle O: Yeah, yeah, yeah. *** ***

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Polystyrene (PS) 142 David M. Johns bleeding atthe roots, we are because cutofffrom theearth toward thebeginningof age ofoilandplastics. “We are iswhatthematterwithus,”“This D.H.wroteLawrence meanstheplasticisn’tplasticity just outthere, it isinus. wehide—what we do toourselves. do to the Earth Our andsay itis good.bad dealswiththeworld But we can’t ation—they are threads likethetwin ofDNA. We make alien- for isone andthesameas ourcapacity plasticity Our norplasticsare safe. ticity above all “safe” insome superficialway. Butneitherourplas- where fauxmountainsare constructed—tame, simplified, but plastic. and granite marble comes to mind, Disneyland dam Hussein’s many palaces outnottobemade turned of Today have on thegrandiose fallen hard- even times—Sad buttons topushmakeusbuyandkeepbuying. plastic computersourcommercial tell ofour masterswhich fromsafe us—phonesthepoliceHereIam. tell which Our phonescell andimposeadeathsentenceon creatures once reach intointact foreststhesubstancestomakeour rain for despotsofoldcouldnothavebillions inways imagined. We tomanage thelivesallows some of statesandcorporations reinforces technology, hierarchy andcentralized energy and shop. inachina bull thanadrunken rather Control of are isdeludedintothinkingthey wiselordsthe colonizer ofthecolonizer. tothepurposes the colonized Inevitably, does another,species the same way one country reshaping and other ecosystems subsidies allow us to colonize Energy magnifies ourplasticity. toget more enhancestheability ofitjustas of energy economy—and othersofthosecalories. depriving Control ofnature’sseizing morecurrency andmore calories—the fused atoms. We orRenminbibutare countindollars really ism; coalandoil; concrete river-killing monoliths, splitand producing more eat; thanthey colonialism; neocolonial- ones; humanslaves, serfs, andwage-slaves—all likeoxen, andwaterwheels;irrigation soilstoreplace new exhausted domestication ofplantsandenslavement ofanimals; gravity cooking,for heat, succession; and speeding up grassland millennia. subsidiesover thelastdozen energy for Fire are aconsequence ofourrelentless about Plastics scratching by only ofoilismatched ourown malleability.ability that isextinguishingsomany ofourcovoyagers. - The malle a recent,of plastic is only we have ripple set in motion ugly andtherestcost toourselves oftheworld. The lethal legacy far—butatasignificant helps ensure oursurvival—thus and relations ofactivity collective patterns defines us and of thousandyears. individualand altering for capacity Our atleastacouple for recognized behavior asplastic—a trait ecules from oil, crude anthropologists human described teasinglong, before humansstarted Long repetitive mol- GoodThe Ugly, andthePretty theBad Plastics andPlasticity: In thesack…save theleatherback. lover…protectBe asavvy Plover. theSnowy you’reWhen tender…think feeling abouttheHellbender. Don’t go bare…Panthers are rare. Use astopper…save theHopper. Wrap withcare…save thePolar Bear. admonishing usto— them free, distributes Diversity for Biological The Center borders which least one on plastic device the redemptive. there which for are non-plastic alternatives, there may beat the stupidandpointlesstoys, things andsome worthwhile andworthless, ugly Along withthetruly bad, thesimply the table.” vaseonand expectedittokeepon blooming inourcivilized poor blossom, itfrom we plucked itsstemon thetree oflife, and sunstars, mockery, andlove isagrinning because,

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Polyurethane (PU) 146 Valerie Vogrin 3. 2. 1. Potential: AQuestionnaire

d) c) b) a) think ofis: you heartheword When “condom” thefirstthing you d) c) b) a) To whatoff-labeluseshave you putacondom? c) b) a) spective mate? disposalmethodsismostattractivefollowing inapro- ofthe Which toyourself). you keptthisobservation was apremium condom, microsheer lubricant though thanwhatthelabelassured car youmore likemidsize condom, hisbrand, the Trojan sounded (which Supra discussion, thetwo ofyou electedtousea judiciously perceived ofyour socialnorm peers(y). brief After ofdesireequation thevariables (x)andthe considering the solution (numberofdates)your own personal heterosexual maninyour own bed, havingadhered to in your late20s. You have justhad sexwithasingle Imagine thatyou are asingleheterosexual woman your bleak, existence childless Challenges Exploration 11” andMelindaGatesFoundation’sthe Bill “Grand anxiety performance water balloons Colorado field work during in to keepsoilsamplesdry nephew pet show your for eight-year-old twin nieceand finger pup- afternoon as costumesinalateSunday ofyour life) under darkening skies(thestory wasabouttogive anoutdoorspeech candidate microphone protection; your employer/hero/lover/ lived by your witsandyour andorgans orifices your abdomen orrectum; you were young; you smuggling substanceintotheU.S. anillegal via Hello Kitty waste can sittingbesideyour wastecan dresser Kitty Hello thecondomhe flicks inthedirection ofthemetal namics, and, thatyou are makingcertain watching, he tiesoffthecondom,for tidinessand/or aerody- favor party beside thebed, leavingitthere likeaforgotten he drops theparcel damply, on thefloor delicately balls box ofAdvil andthree nailpolish-stainedcotton itinthewastebasketbeneathaflattened and tucks bathroom, thecondom inatissue wraps heneatly theneedtourinate; (perhaps) he feigns inthe 4.

d) c) b) a) moment), thecondom problem. isnow alogistical You: (you the assumefor purpose important itsvery served flask oftequilaandshesuppliedthecondom. Having ofyourbackseat Volvo; you suppliedajointandhalf- Loves_Men, actual firstnameJeanorJeanie)inthe relationscarnal withawoman (OKCupid profile name forties; youyour have justhad early post-dinner-date Imagine thatyou are asingleheterosexual malein world wantfromworld you? pledge tonotreproduce; whatmore couldthe youyour have publichealthduty; maintainedyour the damnthingoutwindow; you have done do:do whatyou knotandchuck always tieaswift the package intheglove box napkin towadfood inwhich therubber, replacing seat andfumblearound intheglove box afast for penis andwiggleyour upperbodyintothefront yourpull pantsupover your assandflaccid chilled woman fertile a woman, anindifferent woman, aloose woman, a another person, beingoutpast11, havingsexwith it: wedging yourself inthebackseat, letalone with toohard toimagine, issimply this scenario any of holder between thetwo front seats drop into thecup sack thecum-filled insouciantly

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Polyurethane (PU) 148 James Grinwis has suffered. raft,an inflatable for ahoundthat used andthematerials time. There are usedinadiaper, some of thesamematerials about the waves then splashing around the first in them for caress ourankles. We remember thebaby, Decimal, thinking We remember thewaves, we remember theway usedto they rescueis itfor orisitjusttomessaround with inthewaves. the antithesisofpainbutit’s there sure. for And thedinghy, ofpain,It islikeagristle thishound. ofPampers Asack is going on withthehound, itismissingalegandhasnotail. Pampers, ahound, andaninflatabledinghy.Something is whispers, theones thatblow across thesandsofcity. The baby wasnamedDecimal, andshewastaken by the thedog,leg for would itfindthebabyfor the Pampers? the waste. didweWould have theraft? Why itfindanew raft,and alife thoughwe were inthedesert, itwasadesert, We were inthewaste, abox ofPampers, aninjured hound, Taxidermy Forms * *

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Polyurethane (PU) 150 Polyurethane (PU) What doesoilsay,What thefigure for our we havechosen voice? peace say, inthecontinuous line-makingofitshorizons? say,calm does sinkingintoitsdark-skinned ditch? What in earth’s sense disturbance holes when they core. does What out oftunelikeaguitar, leave will their thatsnakesandrats shade ofswans. We become knowunbalanced, thesoulcan Underground. Lady Our Atmosphere, frock the a ripped the bedrock where thewaterbreaks. Outsider. DearSister itself around itself, aninsideandoutside. forming Holein say, andwhite, wasblack theworld wrapped before theclay were a dream we can’t re-enter. In the beginning, the authors extinctions. ininconsequence. Justavillageburied Asifit no gangrape, winter, nonuclear nodrone strikes, nopolar isringing,church bell anachronistically. No suicidebombs, from thecanyons, have which already opaque. turned A intothetiny mountaintown, snow comes softly Spring DoesWhat CalmSay

151

Melissa Kwasny 152 Jamie “Skye” Bianco already dying. suns onstems,goldenasters newlybornand Near aglaciallakeIfinddense morning sign ofthatblackholecollapsing. holding youup,today, mydaughter, isthe from whichtheyemerged,thentheIVbag neutrinos fallingdownonusfromthefuture If it’s truethatweareheldupbynothingbut despite terriblewailing. and whichwasnotreplacedbymymother the lastzazaIowned,whichfinallylost fondly calleda“zaza,”andIstillremember I wasdeeplyfixatedontheitem,which my apartment? why wasIkeepingsuchpreciousthingsin I blamedmyselfeventhoughknewbetter; What? Noone’s downthere. what millenniakeep how thegroundseeps beyond… …as boatshavemadetheirway there willbeclustersofchairs. After humanshavebecomeextinct, And whenthefloodsrushin, HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE POLYACRYLONITRILE POLYISOBUTYLENE POLYETHYLENE AMMONIA STYRENE METHYL GLYCOL POLY [] [] E A E G E C A 3 2 2 played byabreeze. Kirscher around1650,wasdesignedtobe The instrument,inventedbyAthanasius plastic precursorstothings. Nurdles aretinyplasticresinbeads,micro- was whatwecalleda“violentreaction.” Well itcouldhavebeenanexplosionbut ment forJapanesesilk. consumer tomilitaryproductionasareplace- DuPont shifteditsnylonproductionfrom As theUnitedStatesenteredWorld War II, molecules again. able todecompose,whilewebecome But ourplasticswillliveforever, nolonger toilets. systems withtheirhumans,puddles,and ready function:howitplugsintotechnical Not toscale,eachdrawinglacksasenseof held themupforthecrowdtosee. scooped themupiftheywerechicks,and He grabbedthebirdsfromtheircages,or bound forthepolypropylenegarbagecan. gens withinsecondsofleavingourhand, and aperceivedpotentialsourceofcarcino- out foodisinstantlydemotedtolandfilltrash The polystyrenecontainerthatheldourtake-

153 POLYPROPYLENE TEREPHTHALATE METHACRYLATE PROPYLENE POLYVINYL CHLORIDE POLYMER NYLON M M N H I O L 2 2 I

petro chemo agentissimal: a synthetic polymeRhythm 154 Jamie “Skye” Bianco Plus 2®Weed Control,piledsohighhecouldn’tseethe top. the display:cross-stackedbags ofSuperTurf Builder®with present inwhichwelive. was tolubricateandpropelthefutureperfect the beingsofprehistoriceraslivedanddied combustion engine—thattheentirereason was notonlypointingto“us”butthe It seemedasiftheentiretyofevolution rubble oftheworld. her feetasshewalkedthroughthewhetted runs likewine—andsoshekepthereyesto body hadtoconcealinaplacewhereblood little appetiteforslaughter—itwasafailing The womanhadalwaysregrettedhaving butts) andourfears(parachutes). superfluities (Pampers),ourhopes(silicone cases), ournecessities(Pampers)and chickens) andouradvances(rollingsuit- They willmemorializeourabsurdities(rubber Control, piledsohighhecouldn’tseethetop. of SuperTurf Builder®withPlus2®Weed Tyler sawthedisplay:cross-stackedbags At thehousingstoretobuymoregirders, have alreadyturnedopaque. mountain town,fromthecanyons,which Spring snowcomessoftlyintothetiny Such ismydinner. from thewind… …cheery blueribbonssnappingout P At thehousingstoretobuymore girders,Tyler saw out fromthewind… E

What? Noone’s downthere. T

…cheery blue ribbons snapping …cheery blue ribbons snapping POLYPROPYLENE POLYURETHANE ACRYLONITRILE POLYSTYRENE ANHYDROUS BUTADIENE PARAFFIN O S T R S P T 2 2 2 which was not replaced by my mother despite terrible wailing. which wasnotreplacedbymymotherdespiteterriblewailing. I stillrememberthelastzazaowned,whichfinallylostand deeply fixatedontheitem,whichIfondlycalleda“zaza,”and town, fromthecanyons,whichhavealreadyturnedopaque. while webecomemolecules again. of chairs. is thesignofthatblackholecollapsing. emerged, thentheIVbagholdingyouup,today, mydaughter, neutrinos fallingdownonusfromthefuturewhichthey played by a breeze. played byabreeze. by AthanasiusKirscheraround1650,wasdesignedtobe L A M live. I to lubricateandpropelthefutureperfectpresentinwhich we the entirereasonbeingsofprehistoriceraslivedanddied was was notonlypointingto“us”butthecombustionengine—that E3 G M held themupforthecrowdtosee.S from theircages,orscoopedthemupiftheywerechicks,and rubble oftheworld. she kepthereyestofeetaswalkedthroughthewhetted had toconcealinaplacewherebloodrunslikewine—andso gretted havinglittleappetiteforslaughter—itwasafailingbody and toilets. and toilets. how itplugsintotechnicalsystemswiththeirhumans,puddles, golden astersnewlybornandalreadydying. hand, boundforthepolypropylenegarbagecan. potential sourceofcarcinogenswithinsecondsleavingour out foodisinstantlydemotedtolandfilltrashandaperceived precursors to things. T precursors to things. replacement for Japanese silk. replacement forJapanesesilk. its nylonproductionfromconsumertomilitaryasa butts) andourfears(parachutes). (Pampers) andoursuperfluities(Pampers),hopes(silicone chickens) andouradvances(rollingsuitcases),necessities my apartment? though Iknewbetter;why was Ikeepingsuch precious things in called a“violentreaction.” 2 our plasticswillliveforever, nolongerabletodecompose, 2 AstheUnitedStatesenteredWorld War II,DuPontshifted

Near a glacial lake I find dense morning suns on stems, Near aglaciallakeIfinddensemorningsunsonstems,

And whenthefloodsrushin, Well itcouldhavebeenanexplosionbutwaswhatwe After humanshavebecomeextinct,therewillbeclusters 2

Not to scale, each drawing lacks a sense of ready function: Not toscale,eachdrawinglacksasenseofreadyfunction: N O [] R Ifit’s truethatweareheldupbynothingbut 2

They will memorialize our absurdities (rubber They willmemorializeourabsurdities(rubber

Nurdles are tiny plastic resin beads, microplastic Nurdles aretinyplasticresinbeads,microplastic Spring snow comes softly into the tiny mountain Spring snowcomessoftlyintothetinymountain H [] The polystyrenecontainerthatheldourtake- S …as boatshavemadetheirwaybeyond… 2 2 Such is my dinner. I

I t seemed as if the entirety of evolution t seemedasiftheentiretyofevolution A how thegroundseeps O what millenniakeep

The instrument, invented Theinstrument,invented The womanhadalwaysre-

155 C I blamed myself even Iblamedmyselfeven

He grabbed the birds He grabbed the birds E2 I was I was

petro chemo agentissimal: a synthetic polymeRhythm 156 Marina Zurkow smaller reusablesmaller bits, but over 30% ofourcontaminated or are intonurdles, meltedback polymers orground down into ute tothelowofrecovery. rate plastics, Oftherecycled some over time,belief that plastic biodegrades organically - contrib bins,to recycling confusion over sorting, andthepersistent 8%(2.5million tons) wasrecovered.only Education, access tons ofplasticwasgeneratedintheUnitedStates, while for orbedesignated landfill recycling. In2011, 32million aplasticitemisusedupintheUS,When itmightbecome babies. tobottle-feeding animals from turtles nurdle-eating embeddedinthe guts,been found tissue, of bloodandurine andimmunedisruption dysfunction. residues have Plastic liners),bottle andcan have which beenlinkedtoendocrine ing agent usedinPVC andvinyl), PCB, andBPA (plastic of themore- familiarPOPs phthalate (thesoften include are organics, synthetic are meaningthey man-made. Some Pollutants,sistent Organic or(more cheerily), POPs. These to these plastic particles,cling an amalgam of Per forming - 6:1.zooplankton partners chemical Hormone-disrupting Pacific(within theNorth Gyre), microplastics outweigh fish, invertebrates. and marine In the Pacifictrash vortex and gestalt, these microplastics are consumed by sea birds, vessels, intheocean. arriving plankton insize Mimicking drains,and storm swept down rivers, anddumpedfrom sea gangers—bits ofbottle, by bagandnet—are sewage carried to Nurdles are tiny plasticresin beads, microplastic precursors asaseaofnurdles. silly Seussian as pileduptothesky,red buckets The merisas as forms. apart; themultitude becomes one. Onemolecule, infinite are plastic. Oncemade, are hard they exceedingly topull tum. rubbery. berepeated infini- Amercan intolongad chains, maycharacter berigid, squishy, porous, bulletproof, or brittle PVC, PS, PU, PIB, HDPE, andLDPE, tonameafew. Their merscreate plasticswithdiverseSpecific qualities: PMMA, linear, ornetworked. branched unit,a repeatable structural known asamer. Amermay be anditshydrogenmolecule ofcarbon associatescomprises hydrocarbon themintospecialized forms.catalyze Anew molecules from refined petroleum, thenfurther “crack” and hydrogenand several atoms. We large derive hydrocarbon A hydrocarbon atom isamoleculemade upofone carbon A hydrocarbon baseunitofplastic. moleculeisthesmallest made from oilderivatives. became Plastikos, theGreek word meaningabletobemolded, is...Plastic remarkably so. Postscript: Once Were, Now Are, Be Will things. andtheirpost-consumer doppel- nurdles Virgin When amerisrepeated,When a polymer. Polymers itforms in 1909 in the USA: a synthetic product synthetic a plastic in1909theUSA: be imperishable, perpetual…immortal. were organisms bound to die, now are indefatigable, and will blameless red buckets. little mers…once Plastic…these equipment, medical life-saving weapons, 3Dprinted and shows up,Plastic day, day after aspolychrome baubles, form, each considered toonce have beenmortal. There areover 300millionHindudeities, permutations on inourbloodstreams andoceans.like drift within thefissuresforms, of geological totheirplankton- to have an intravenous relation to us: from their gravesites facturing, hydrocarbons thesepetrochemical continue will from biology, self-organized fixed bymanu- now artificially expectations. ourbiological disrupt Plastics Oncederived facture ofplastics, process. andonce againintherecycling liberation” occursintheextraction ofpetroleum, themanu- the earth’s biosphere changes. undergoes radical This “CO2 ide is released into the atmosphere be removed, than can cycle,carbon fuels. fossil asdoall diox more- carbon When But notplastics. are intransigent. Plastics the disrupt They and abattoirwaste, mammoths, wooly andwoolen sweaters. plankton inthesea, pinetrees, paperproducts, salad scrap become futureanaerobically fuel: you andme, ourpets, the organic matter decomposes.All We and may gradually ofany empire,the boundaries andoutlive usall. POPs, float outside bits of plastic will the vivid and durable is pandemic; governments ban PCBs and other long after nations cancer),developing (developing buttheproblem both thetoxic manufacture ofplasticsto andrecycling aboutourselves,In theUSwe mayclean feel outsourcing asfuel. processa toxic orsimply recycling ofplasticwaste,largest importer where itisburned, eitherin plastic is shipped to China,difficult-to-recycle the world’s

157 158 Contributors 2012). Politics Scientific Exploration of andClimate Change (Palgrave, asCulturalis theauthorofAntarctica Critique: The Gendered Writingand teachesintheExpository Program atNYU. She culture art on visualandperformance writes Glasberg Elena Persea Books. BaseballPoemsthe Order: . editorat Heisthelongtime poetry the NewLamb Take, theeditorofananthology, and Gabriel Fried istheauthorofacollection ofpoems, of self. Model, conceptions andAmerican abook aboutimmunology andisatwork ofPittsburgh on TheDanger at theUniversity able Woman MappedWho . theOceanFloor teaches writing She Hali Felt istheauthorofSoundings: theRemark- of The Story . theonline H_NGM_N for journal 42Opus, KQ Gertrude, , andelsewhere. Heisthefiction editor university. Missouri at asmall have appeared Hisstories in Matt literature andcreative Dube teaches American writing and adapted thestage for by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater. work has been featured on NPR’s Shorts Selected Much. Her stories,collections ofshort andthenovel istheaward-winning authorofthree Crane Elizabeth Guare Fellow inLiterature. Academy inRome astheJohnspent 2012-13attheAmerican Psychokillers: the novel Everyday (FC2). Girls for AHistory She HouseBooks) and (Tin Predicament Books) andTheEntire Hundred Apocalypses andOther (McSweeney’s collections One story Corin istheauthorofshort Lucy Hughes),Holly Press. publishedby ofMichigan University and (co-authoredProject by Enelow), Shonni publishedby Palgrave, include Environmental atNYU. Studies Her recent publications Una Chaudhuri is Professor of English, Drama, and at work on anotherbook. and in magazinesliketheParis Review, OneStory,, Kenyon Review House,(Melville 2014) and more published than20stories Scenario, oraNeetsa Employee’s Pizza tothe Guide World Saving Rachel Cantor istheauthorofnovel AHighly Unlikely Renaissance literature atRiceUniversity. andcreative writing poetry, the authorof Joseph Campana isapoet, scholar, critic. andarts Heis Internationalexhibition/catalogue. the2013Carnegie for artist Affective (Duke, Turn The 2007), andwasselectedasalocal O-zone, Debates in Digital Humanities (Minnesota, 2012)and and practitioner whosemultimodal work hasappeared in isaqueerFeministShe andsite-baseddigitalmediatheorist ofMedia,Department Culture andCommunication atNYU. Jamie “Skye”Bianco .New England Review lives inBrooklyn, She where sheis (co-edited with Species Acts: Animal Performing Today The Book of Faces Research Theatre, Climate Change, andtheEcocide and two collections of and The Reformation Pain of is a Clinical AssistantProfessoris aClinical inthe and Natural Selections. He teaches We So OnlyKnow Heart of Heart of Making House Press in2013. Recitals: Essays on Image, and Vision waspublished by Lynx tana, from all Milkweed Editions. Acollectionofessays, ing KwasnyMelissa istheauthoroffive books ofpoetry,- includ results ofmore tests. andisawaitingthe diagnosed withnon-Hodgkins lymphoma change. took place, this interview Since hisfatherhasbeenre- toclimate adapting for thelandscape ecologies andstrategies recover from damage. Recent research on hasfocused ruin projects demonstrate nature’spublic art to ability surprising teacher, activist andwriter. and interventions Hisbotanical isaCanadian landartist, Kellhammer Oliver permaculture University. among others. Davidteachespolitics andlawatPortland State published in policy. Politics Author (2009), ofANewConservation hehas andscience on theintegrationofscienceandadvocacy Initiative.Conservation and spoken widely He has written Network and the Yellowstonethe Wildlands to Yukon David M. Johns andpastpresident isaco-founder of University.Michigan program creative at Eastern writing in the interdisciplinary (Omnidawn, 2012), and Activeon theFirst Sense (Ugly Presse, Duckling 2008), (Counterpath,2010), andthree chapbooks, Humeistheauthorofthree books,Christine mostrecently (Bloomsbury, 2012). author ofThe Universal Sense: How Hearing Shapes the Mind balance, integration, sensory sleep, andspace science. Heisthe has worked andpublished incomparative andhuman hearing, ofNeuroscienceprofessor intheDepartment atBrown, he a Ph.D. inneuroscience from Brown University. Aformer S.Seth and Horowitz aMastersinpsychology earned Interactive Telecommunications Program atNYU. and Guffin, Sanskrit, Cold MountainReview, , Review Wisconsin The appeared asSalamander, such injournals Gargoyle, - The Mac LinePress.published in2011by Finishing has Herpoetry Nancy Hechinger’s chapbook atBucknell. teaches creative writing Review, Daily, Poetry Review, 2012,Poetry Poetry American American The Kenyon Mellon,(Carnegie 2012). Herpoemshave appeared in Mellon,(Carnegie Creatures, 2009)andEarly Native Gods K. A. Hays istheauthoroftwo books: DearApocalypse magazines. Press in2007 and hiswork and injournals hasappeared widely House/National(Coffee Series). Poetry Bateau Heco-founded (National Press) Poetry Review Forking andExhibitof Paths is the author of two books of poetry, lives inNorthampton,James Grinwis Massachusetts, and Pictograph, The NineSenses, and Mudfish. lives inNew She York andteachesatthe City Conservation Biology and Biology Conservation and many othervenues. currently She Hum (Dikembe, 2014). She teaches (Dikembe, 2014). She Letters to Cohen Leonard was

159 NovalisReading inMon- Environmental Ethics, The City The City From Nome Lullaby: Speculations Ventifacts Earth Earth Shot Best 160 Mymemoir andcriticism, Poets including Maureen N. McLane istheauthorofthree books ofpoetry, Blog.card Studies representation relate toaction. Liboiron alsomanages theDis- inscienceandactivism,manifest andhow thesemethodsof phenomena asdisastersandplasticpollutionare such made in the Wild,” on focuses how invisible emerging harmful herdissertation,including “Redefining Pollution:Plastics Max Liboiron isascholar, research, activist, and artist. Her published by AliceJamesBooks in2015. (Georgia,Snow 2008). Hersecond collection, Cecily Parks collection is the author of the poetry and globalpopculture narrative forms. intouniquehybrid issuesofscience,integrate technology, environmental politics, to theirability for acclaim garnered international critical countries,and publishedinmore thanthirty herbooks have Being, author ofthenovels isthebest-selling She isawriter,Ruth Ozeki filmmaker,Zen Buddhistpriest. and ing editorat Harper’s. American Magazine and TheOxford University, atDuke Studies Documentary for - andacontribut Carolina. inresidence at thewriter He iscurrently The Center from anddocumentarian North isawriter Duncan Murrell outside lives inthedesert Tucson, withherchildren. Arizona in Paradise, from isforthcoming W.W. 2014. Norton infall She Lydia isanovelist whose most recent book, Millet on philosophy, ecology, literature, food, andmusic. Nature (Harvard, 2007), otherbooks, seven essays andninety 2013), Magic: Objects, Ontology, (OpenHumanitiesPress, Causality afterthe theEndof WorldEcology (Minnesota, 2013), Realist Rice University. He is the author of Timothy Morton ChairinEnglishat Guffey isRitaShea ofUtah. the University dation. editor ofNinebark Aco-founding Press, heteaches at from from theNEAandagrant theLudwig Vogelstein Foun- He Ate Me. Hehasreceived aLiterature Fellowship inProse terly,, Review Seneca and and anthologies, AGNI, including DIAGRAM,- Denver Quar and hisfiction andnonfiction have appeared inmany journals Michael Mejia is the author of the novel and booksromanticism. on British ture, poems on weird she teaches at NYU and has written life Award Circle Critics inAutobiography. crea- Acarbon-based York theNational for Book aFinalist NotableTimes Book and The EcologicalThought(Harvard, 2010),The without Ecology and My Year Meats, of (FSG, 2014),This Blue (FSG, work aswell asahybrid of My Mother SheKilledMe,My Mother MyFather (FSG, 2012), wasa which . Creation Over All Translated Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Forgetfulness A Tale for the Time the Time A Tale for O’Nights, be will Field Folly Mermaids Mermaids (FC2), New New Brooklyn. NYU’s Interactive Technology Program andlives in (ITP) Foundation, andCreative Capital. at ison thefaculty She Arts, New York theArts, Councilfor State theRockefeller awardsbeen granted from theNew York Foundation the for Fellowship. Memorial Guggenheim John Simon has also She animals, plants, andthe weather. istherecipient ofa 2011 She environments on focused humansandtheirrelationship to Zurkow Crossing multiple disciplineswithherpractice, Marina Vancouver. ).(organismforpoeticresearch.org Derek lives in Houston and literature, Poetic for totheOrganism andcontributes Research lichenologist. and environmental on essays theory He writes WoodsDerek isaPh.D. studentinEnglishandanamateur ofAlabamaandPacificUniversity University. Terrestrial. programs atthe teachesinthegraduatewriting She Flannery O’Connor Prize,Flannery andtwo novels, WellsKellie istheauthorof bepublishedonFool’swill April Day 2014by Outpost19. Not Quite. Hisnovel,A Moody Fellow Loveand Finds Then Dies, Douglas Watson Flagstaff. in University Arizona and associate professor atNorthern Egg 2013. istheauthorofacollection ofpoems, She 3 Award Creative for Nonfiction and was released inJune Nicole Walker’s Los AngelesReview. Prize. In2010shewasawarded aPushcart have appeared asPloughshares, such injournals AGNI, andThe Valerie Vogrin A Partial Alphabet. the Frontiers Biomedicine and of most recent books are Her English at Penn State, where chickens. she also raises ProfessorSusan Squier isBrill of Women’s and Studies (BADCAT).Theory and Association theDiscussionArt for ofCamera-based Governor’s Island. member of is a founding She The Brooklyn The Bronx Museum,AIR Gallery, The EFA Gallery, and the world, including Photography,The InternationalCenterof around exhibitedatmuseums have andgalleries beenwidely and consumer culture. Herportraits, videosandinstallations objects toreframe conversations abouthistory, technology, Abigail Simon usesphotography, video, andhumblecultural (Barrow Street, 2010). She’s nonfiction editoratDiagram builds animations, media, andparticipatory has publishedanovel, istheauthorofabook ofstories, TheEra of Quench Quench Your theZone Salt won Thirst with Liminal Lives: ImaginingtheHuman at , Scars Compression winnerofthe Poultry Science,Poultry ChickenCulture:

161 Shebang. Skin and Her stories Her stories This Noisy Fat Girl,

Contributors 162 Polypropylene (PP) Michael Mejia: David M. Johns: Melissa Kwasny: Corin: Lucy www.o-matic.com/play/necrocracy presented in March 2012. commissioned by DiverseWorks inHouston, Texas and ofasoloexhibitionbody ofwork aspart firstdeveloped anongoing The Manga ofNecrocracy, Petroleum ispart Foundation Fellowship, gallery, bitforms andEileenJoy. Thanks totheJohn F. GuggenheimSimon Memorial gallery andbitforms oftheartist courtesy Artwork Additional Research: Simun Miriam Assistance:Drawing Anne Ellen Burtner “A Camera’s Not Expression...” firstappeared inDiagram. Diversity.Biological Condom slogansusedwithpermission of for The Center Terrain. “Past with Life Wooly Mammoth” firstappeared in “Sail, Hull, Jibs” firstappeared inDiagram. “Body” firstappeared in8O’clock. “Meth” and “After” firstappeared. inMassachusetts Review ” and “Freeze Box”“Half firstappeared inWest Branch.

163

Acknowledgements

Zurkow, Marina

The Petroleum Manga: A Project by Marina Zurkow

punctum books, 2014 ISBN: 9780615965963 https://punctumbooks.com/titles/petroleum-manga/ https://www.doi.org/10.21983/P3.0062.1.00