11: Plastics

In recent years there has been growing interest in synthetic materials within the museum environment; both from an identification point of view and in order to determine their condition. Since their development in the late 19th Century, synthetic polymers have moved steadily into almost every area of life, and as a consequence, into a growing number of museum collections. This chapter introduces some of the fundamental microstructures of synthetic polymers and their incorporation in plastic artefacts. The physical properties and processing of plastics are outlined with a view to understanding how and why this class of materials has found widespread application. Analytical strategies for assessing mechanical and thermal characteristics are discussed and put into context through the discussion of a case study. The technical art history case study considers the materials and processes employed in the pyrographies works by Nul artist Henk Peeters, who created a series of works that exploited the thermal properties of polyurethane foam and polyvinyl chloride film through the application of heat.