Since the early 2000s, Price has been fascinated by vacuum forming, a process in which plastic is heated and sucked against a mold. The artist repurposes the technique, traditionally used for commercial packaging, and casts unexpected objects: here, he forced PVC over the mold of a bomber jacket. Bubbles, creases, and other deformations run throughout the surface, rendering the military garment strange. In the 1950s plastic became the emblem of the postwar industrial miracle, signaling the endless possibility of new materials. Price has compared the malleability of plastic to the infinite possibilities of digital manipulation. Vintage Bomber arrests such fluid forms in suspended animation.

Gallery label from

2022

Medium Vacuum-formed polyvinyl chloride
Dimensions 48 x 42 x 2 1/4" (121.9 x 106.7 x 5.7 cm)
Credit Gift of Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis
Object number 49.2011
Department Painting & Sculpture

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