Just one word... PLASTICS

Saturday, March 6, 2004—Sunday, February 27, 2005
Wells Fargo Gallery of Modernist Design
Free Exhibition

This brief pronouncement appearing in the 1968 film, The Graduate, convulsed audiences then, but since has taken on an entirely new meaning. In the span of some 35 years, the entire spectrum of plastics--that "miracle material"--has risen from ridicule to respect, if not reverence.

In a two-part examination and celebration of plastic design, a first installment appeared in The Minneapolis Institute of Arts followed by a second, overlapping presentation at Wells Fargo Center from October 11, 2004 to October 11, 2005. It is the first such arrangement utilizing the city-center facility to expand on a given theme originating at the Institute.

Today, nothing underscores the technological revolution more than plastics. Not since the early 20th-century popularity of Bakelite (which is featured in a simultaneous Institute installation as part of the ongoing "Case Studies" series) has plastic been so admired. Tutti-frutti colors, sensuous, tactile surfaces, transparent forms, and phenomenal tensile strength are but a few of the qualities fulfilling design needs beyond mere function. In the 21st century, functionality has become multi-dimensional and plastics appear to promise ever-growing purpose and pleasure.