Contiuum Elastic is an ongoing artistic research project that explores how rubber, an organic substance linked to the rise of capitalism, imperialism and modernity, embodies the ways in which humans and non-humans are intimately intertwined with the military-industrial complex. Through a series of acts that interweave research with moving image, sound, sculpture, installation and text, the project is an attempt to make tangible the inextricable links that exist between people, plants, politics and power.

Taraxacum Kok-saghyz, also known as Russian dandelion, is a plant endemic to Kazakhstan that contains rubber. Bethan Hughes' project traces the intricate journey of this humble 'weed', from the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan to collective farms in the USSR, greenhouses in Auschwitz and the laboratories of multinational rubber corporations in Germany, and the stories of the women connected to this journey.

The exhibition is on-view at LABoral, Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial in Gijón from 1 December 2023 to 04 May 2024.