Book Launch | "Mongrels of Our Making: The Plastiglomerates of Hawai’i" with Michael Kolster

Join us for a conversation with Mike Kolster, Professor of Art, Department of Visual Arts,Rachel J. Beane, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences and Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Student Advising, Department of Earth and Oceanographic Science, Frank H. Goodyear, Co-Director, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, and Willi Lempert, Osterweis Family Associate Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology to celebrate the publication of Mongrels of Our Making: The Plastiglomerates of Hawai’i  (George Thompson Publishing Inc., 2025) by Bowdoin College Professor of Art Mike Kolster. The book explores in words and photographs the recent discovery of the “plastiglomerate,” a haphazard fusion of plastic marine debris and coastal lava on Kamilo Point, a remote beach on the “Big Island” of Hawai’i.

The panel will discuss the opportunity we face as we consider the emergence of these “plastiglomerates.” As humans make fires on the beach, the far-flung plastic that has washed up there melts and fuses permanently with the "naturally occurring,” ”local” volcanic coastal rocks and sand. Not only will these hybrids of human and geological activity most likely enter the fossil record to serve as markers of the onset of the Anthropocene, but, maybe more important, as mongrels of natural and man-made influences, these objects challenge us to rethink how we see ourselves and what we define as “natural.” 
 
The conversation will be followed by a reception in the Museum. Free and open to the public; no registration required. Presented by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and the Department of Art. 

Bowdoin College is committed to providing an accessible and welcoming environment. Please contact the Events Office (events@bowdoin.edu or 207-725-3433) with any questions regarding the accessibility of this event and/or to request accommodations. Please note: some accommodations require advance notice and may require documentation of a disabling condition. 


Image: plastiglomerate (green/blue, B0006006), Brunswick, Maine (2023)

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Co-hosted with: Visual Arts

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