“These Cultural Treasures Are Made of Plastic. Now They’re Falling Apart”
—XiaoZhi Lim, New York Times, 2018
“Degradation of plastics!” cry
archivists of studio props,
computers, Ella Fitzgerald records,
and Neil Armstrong’s space
suit. Art deco crumbles in
the MOMA along
with toaster
ovens and super
soakers.
Polymers
fall to
pieces.
Venus de Milo, meanwhile
hasn’t shed a pound of abalone lust.