The new materials of 20th-century technology provided both the means and the inspiration for the three-dimensional works of the Constructivists. Plastic was employed by Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner to realize innovative sculptural forms. It may be postulated that the development of acrylic plastics and filaments made Gabo's more organic works of the 1930s and 1940s possible. However, early plastics were unstable and Gabo's works have discolored, warped, or decomposed over time. The author explores the effect of deterioration on various works to demonstrate the urgent need for research on early plastics to aid the conservation of these sculptures. -- AATA