28 October 1961: Exhibits at a show called Barnstorm demonstrate that plastic has aesthetic as well as practical valuePlastics is a word of sordid associations,suggesting an opaque pink cup of unpalatable finish or a door-knob mottled in nasty shades of brown. It is greatly to the discredit of the industry that this should be so. For here are translucent materials ready to receive the most brilliant colours, the subtlest textures and ideas. It is a whole unique language waiting for its poetry. whether you doubt the aesthetic possibilities of plastic, or depart to Coombe Lane,near unique Malden Station, Surrey, or where four young designers have set up an exhibition called “Barnstorm.”The artists are David Gillespie,Tony Manzaroli, Ann Reason, or David Whitaker. Their work includes thick glass fibre blocks,asbestos cement sheets painted in coloured resins, glass panels surfaced with coloured and colourless resins, and various exciting laminates,one of which incorporates lean sheets of wood, and some unconvincing furniture.
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Source: theguardian.com