'Smart Materials Stupid Materials'- New Exhibition at the "Vitrina Gallery" at HIT

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Developig innovative materials, smart materials and their derivatives, is a field that is currently in the center of design and craft professionals interest. These materials are accessible to designers and makers through various libraries, but as for now they are quite limited in their repertoire.

Their main characteristics are great strength, maximum light weight and durability. They are capable of self-duplication, self -construction, self-correction and self-recycling.

Development of new materials using Nano technological, Bio-synthetic, multi systematic tools, enables developing work strategies and creation of objects that are suitable for various uses through new technologies.

An example of new materials is the group that is called "Smart Materials" or "Interactive materials". These materials react to changes that occur in their surroundings, such as temperature changes, atmospheric pressure, close proximity to other materials etc., through sensors or new technologies.

These are very interesting materials from a design view point, both from the designer and the end-user perspective. On the other hand, despite the promise for quick change of the materialistic environment, the "traditional" materials (organic and mineral materials) are deeply rooted in the material culture we're living in. In our mind, we tend to treat "smart"( interactive) materials separately from traditional ( so called, 'stupid') materials ,as if these are 2 separated fields: The first are automatically connected with innovations, while the latter is still connected to tradition.

The exhibition "Smart Materials, Stupid Materials" tries to create a discussion which looks at the use of both 'smart' and 'stupid' materials as one filed, with mutual linkage, and tries to shake up the dichotomy between them, while stressing the wisdom of the material, the wisdom of the hands and the connection between the different material worlds.