Die Neue Sammlung – the State Museum of Applied Arts and Design | Design in the Pinakothek der Moderne – houses, among other things, one of the world’s largest and most important collections of industrial furniture design. The large number of objects reflects the technologies and materials developed in the course of the 20th century, attesting in particular to the use of plastics. However, unlike most traditional materials these are subject to a dynamic aging process and after only a short time often already bear irreversible traces of their age.

The Conservation Department at Die Neue Sammlung has for years focused on the phenomenon of how modern materials age. Aspects such as identifying the relevant materials, regular monitoring, risk analyses, and the according measures for preventive conservation constitute the main factors entailed in conserving plastic objects.

As part of the WISSENSSPEICHER exhibition series, the Neue Sammlung Conservation Department is presenting a studio show in Room 9 entitled “fantastic plastic?” and featuring two selected examples of furniture design – thus highlighting the opportunities and limits to conserving plastic objects.

The exhibition concentrates on materials that were highly flexible back in the day when they were made and whose properties have since changed substantially owing to physical and chemical processes. Corresponding types of damage can hardly be reconciled with the respective designer’s original intentions and are problematic in terms of conservation. As part of the studio display, characteristic forms of damage are showcased and explained by describing the key aging factors for the respective materials. On the basis of these findings, the show then explains the conservation measures as well as how museums deal with the problems associated with correspondingly aged objects.

Guided Tours by specialists

Staff members of the Conservation Department of Die Neue Sammlung offer guided tours through the exhibition “Fantastic plastic ?.”

Tour participation is included in the price of the entrance ticket.
Meeting point: Information Desk | Rotunda | Pinakothek der Moderne, Barer Str. 40, D- 80333 Munich

Thursday 19.10. | 17:00
Thursday 02.11. | 17:30
Thursday 23.11. | 17:30
Thursday 21.12. | 17:30

See also the following publication by Die Neue Sammlung:

Plastics + Design (Munich, Stuttgart, & New York, 1997), 162 pages, with color illustrations. Edited by: Florian Hufnagl. With essays by Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Giulio Castelli, Tom Dixon, Inflate, Konstantin Grcic and others. Chronology of the history of plastics, glossary, bibliographies.
In German and English. Graphic Design: Silke Nalbach, Stuttgart.