What happens when a crisis catches you so off guard that it makes you physically ill and deeply depressed? You experience the loss of the world as it once was. Psychologists call this ambiguous loss: the world still exists, but something essential seems to have been taken from you. Lawlessness, pollution, climate change and an economy relentlessly propelled by profit and growth can together awaken a profound sense of powerlessness, of mourning for something intangible that seems to be gone forever. Grief can spark anger and action, but also acceptance and resignation: let the storm rage. In the plastic sea, modern Europe reveals itself in all its nakedness.

“We want a countryside full of strong men and plenty of wish for a better Spain. We want a countryside that would be the seedbed of a New Spain, the deposit of the eternal Spain, the “breeding ground of Spain”.
—Franco-propagandist Agustín de Foxá in 1939

This is a pre-sale. The book Plastic Sea, Perfect Storm will be launched on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 16:00 in Domo Amsterdam. Shipping of books will start from Monday, May 11, 2026.

There is also a numbered edition of this book with a special dust jacket available. You can find more information here.

The exhibition, Plastic Sea, Perfect Storm, will be on view from September 26, 2026, through February 2027 at Kunsthal Rotterdam.

Concept / Concepto
Arnold van Bruggen, Rob Hornstra
Text / Texto
Arnold van Bruggen
Photography / Fotografía
Rob Hornstra
Photo editing / Edición fotográfica
Kim Knoppers, Rob Hornstra
Design / Diseño
LMNOP
Printing by / Impresión
Rob Stolk
Print run / Tirada
1,000 copies / copias
Paperback
264pp + 32 pp insert
Dimensions
230 x 275 x 22 mm
Bilingual
Spanish / English