This image-rich book establishes the origins of a long-term art–science program where silica aerogel operates as both nanomaterial and cultural instrument. It is the first of four related monographs exploring silica aerogel nanoscience in a free-dimensional practice. Moving from early plastographic investigations and “objet trouvé” logics to threshold projects including (Nephele)³, MIT-based development, and NASA/JPL experiments, the volume documents how elastic method emerges: a disciplined practice where optics, fragility, and process become the work’s core syntax. The book builds the methodological base for the four-volume set: early material experiments; emergence of plastography and elastic method; transitions from atelier to laboratory; and the first institutional thresholds (MIT; NASA/JPL). It integrates process-aware discussion (sol–gel lineage, drying logics, optical behavior, handling/encasing constraints) with a dense visual archive.

Dr. Ioannis Michaloudis is Research Associate at NCSR Demokritos, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (INN), Greece. He is also Professor of Visual Arts and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the American University of Cyprus (AUCY).