HD video, 12.15 min., Video still, Documentation video (artist’s archive) of the expedition. Unidentified stones found on the Heligoland Archipelago, North Sea, Jan. 2025.

HD video, 12.15 min., Video still, Documentation video (artist’s archive) of the expedition. Unidentified stones found on the Heligoland Archipelago, North Sea, Jan. 2025.

Synthetic Sediments explores plasticglomerates, anthropogenic geological formations created through the fusion of plastic waste with natural materials, as material evidence of the increasing incorporation of synthetic substances into the Earth's geological processes. Considered by many researchers to be potential markers of the Anthropocene, these formations challenge conventional distinctions between nature and artifact, sedimentation and pollution.

Drawing on research into anthropogenic soils and emerging lithologies, the work speculatively investigates the possibility of plasticglomerate formations occurring in polar regions, environments whose extreme climatic conditions challenge the processes currently understood to be necessary for their formation. Inspired by an expedition to the far north of Europe in 2025, the project combines observation, geological speculation, and artistic inquiry to reflect on the planetary expansion of the material traces of human activity.

By approaching plasticglomerates as synthetic sediments of a planet in transformation, the work reflects on the deep temporalities of pollution, the agency of matter, and the new landscapes emerging from the entanglement of geological processes and human infrastructures. Situated between art and geoscience, Synthetic Sediments invites viewers to imagine stratigraphic futures in which materials produced by human culture become embedded within the geological memory of the Earth.