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.
