Time to Break Down (Echoes of the Palaeoplasticene) is an installation of a soundscape with 3D printed PLA mushrooms in the exhibition space and surrounds. The PLA mushrooms are situated in a speculative past, inspired by the scientific method of taphonomy, which looks at how bodies decay in the natural environment. The method of taphonomy is applied to exploring what evolutionary advantage there would be to a mushroom if it had evolved to grow from plastic in prehistory. Installations are accompanied by a soundscape drawing links between fossil fuel extraction and the slow process of the breakdown of plastic, elaborating the enduring legacy of human-made objects like plastic affecting both human and non-human beings. Designed to be durable and unreactive, plastic outlasts its surrounding flora and fauna as real ecosystems adapt to this new materiality. The Palaeoplasticene ecosystem of works address the breakdown of plastic in the environment by engaging with a speculative past where plastic-based fungi evolved in the distant past, introducing plastic to the ecosystem in pre-human history. This fictional past invites visitors to realise the longevity of the material and to engage with the implications for our current and future ecosystems.

“Plastic Echoes” aims to develop an instrument that can create sound from interaction with microplastic particles based on ultrasound sensing methods. Typically, microplastics are detected through filtration and visual identification. However, new research has broken ground into sound-based detection of microplastic, opening up the possibility of creating an instrument that “plays” environmental samples according to the amount or type of microplastic that they contain. Recent research shows that the size of microplastic particles is proportional to their resonance wavelength, using it for microplastic removal. I propose to adapt the setup to use ultrasonic sensing for direct sonification of particles’ presence.”