Skeleton: 2305

2025RISD MID 2026

Instructor: Laurie Brewer

Materials: Reused activewear and blankets (filling)

Microplastics are now inside the human body. Our bones, our tissues, everything we are is no longer ful ly organic. It’s ironic—when we die and decompose, what remains of us is not just dust and bones but synthetic materials that will outlive us. Even in death, we are entangled with plastic, a permanent mark on the environment we continue to destroy while also destroying ourselves. How did we get here? Overconsumption, fast fash ion, digital excess—humans have drastically changed their behavior over centuries, becoming increasingly detached from nature. Natural materials have been replaced by synthetic ones, and microplastics have taken over. They are in our food, water, air, and inside our own bodies. Studies show they are toxic, reduc ing feeding, causing poisoning, increasing mortality. They accumulate in ecosystems, travel up the food chain, and ultimately infiltrate us. The very things we produce to make life easier are making us sick. 
This project started with a book that asked: What will the future of archaeology look like? That ques tion stuck with me. What will future archaeolo gists uncover about us? What will they see in our remains? Unlike past civilizations, whose artifacts tell stories of craftsmanship, survival, and culture, our legacy is waste. We live in a world where trends dictate mass production and mass disposal, where plastics outlive generations. When future socie ties dig up our past, they won’t find biodegrada ble remains. They will find skeletons infused with microplastics, bodies that refuse to return to the earth. Inspired by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals—particularly the 17th, which ties together all global issues—I made a skeleton entirely from reused synthetic textiles, materials I’ve thrifted and repurposed. This skeleton represents the future of humanity, a vision of what remains when human bodies become synthetic, incapable of breaking down naturally. It’s a statement on how we treat the planet and ourselves. As we poison the environment, we poison our own bodies. The more we consume, the more we re place our organic selves with something artificial.
Destruction of the planet is also self-destruction.





Background: Chile’s desert dumpsite for 60K tons of fast fashion seen from space
materials:
100% Polyester
97% Polyester
3% Spandex
90% Nylon
10% Lytcra
86% Polyester
12% Spandex
100% Microfiber
100% Polyethylene
100% Polyester