ANYA BYALAYA
INDEPENDENT DESIGNER & ART DIRECTORABOUT
PLASTIC ODDITIES
ABOUT: Plastic Oddities is a speculative evolutionary project that envisions a future shaped by plastic waste. Blending graphic design, sculpture, and environmental storytelling, it explores how plastic could mutate into bizarre new life forms. The project is a metaphor for the lasting impact of human consumption.
It is based on an attempt to view a speculative future universe through the eyes of a non-human agent. This collector is in perpetual search of “oddities” in nature, which by that time have completely merged with microplastic particles. The agent does not suspect that their supposedly natural exhibits are, in fact, human-made plastic waste.
The primary tools for creating the taxonomy and morphology of species are Chat GPT and Midjourney. I’ve trained them for 2 months to completely understand my theory.
The project consists of:
Generated images that were made for the project using Midjourney
WEBSITE
POSTERS
ZINE-WORKBOOK
ARTIFACTS
To make this speculative theory more vibrant I’ve created physical objects that support the lore:
Materials: XPS, epoxy resin, paint, glass
Dimensions: H: 128 cm, W: 63 cm, L: 95 x 76 cm
«MAYBE WE SHOULD AVAIL OF ALL THESE CROCODILE TEARS
TO START ANOTHER SWIMMING POOL!»
Materials: PET, epoxy resin
Dimensions: H: 50 cm, W: 120 cm
«DON’T BE SAD OVER DEARTH, THERE ARE MANY FISH ON THE EARTH»
Materials: plasticine, epoxy resin, wobblers, cotton wool
Dimensions: 1 — H: 12 cm, W: 20 cm, 2 — H: 12 cm, W: 12 cm
Materials: epoxy resin, glass, plasticine, polygel
Dimensions: H: 14.5 cm, W: 20 cm
Plastic Oddities was a part of group exhibitions in HSE Gallery*:
“Collection. The Order of Things”, 12.07.2024 — 25.08.2024 “Pupae Turn into Butterflies. Meme Culture”, 11.03.2025 — 16.04.2025
*HSE ART GALLERY is a contemporary art gallery based at the School of Design of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow.
Photo: Roman Konovalov
*Stanisław Lem,“Summa Technologiae”