To create this imagined “core sample” of the future, Tossin combined her own melted plastic
waste with assorted natural and synthetic matter. Embedded inside a fallen tree trunk, the
swirling colors contrast the materiality of plastic—bright, cheap, sterile—against the organic
formations of fossils. Highlighting plastic’s deep integration within capitalist society’s cultural
imagination, Future Fossil reflects our contradictory relationship with the natural world.
Future Fossil, 2018
Cedar tree trunk, rocks, roots, leaves, bark, soil, sand, plaster, cement, silicone, foam, resin,
aluminum foil, electronic waste, recycled plastics (PET, HDPE, LDPE, PP, and PS) 14 x 240 x 17 in