Smart Materials, Stupid Materials

The name 'smart materials' brings with it a sense of magic, of increased, perhaps even supernatural, abilities and evokes a thought of overcoming challenges alongside the development of innovative abilities that have hitherto been beyond imagination. This can be true in some cases, yet this term, ‘smart materials’, remains in most cases linked to something new, sparkling or inconceivable, even though the reality may be different.
In our consciousness, we refer separately to the 'smart' (interactive) materials and to the 'traditional' (so-called ‘stupid’) materials as two separate material fields: the former automatically communicate to 'innovation' and the latter to tradition. Even though we see accelerated development of many innovative and revolutionary materials, the 'traditional' materials (wood, stone, ceramic, metals, etc.) do not become redundant as they are deeply ingrained in the culture in which we live, and even more, they offer groundbreaking contemporary thinking and ingenuity.
The exhibition 'Smart Materials, Stupid Materials' come to discuss and examine the use of 'smart' and 'stupid' materials as one interrelated field and to challenge the dichotomy between the fields, emphasizing material wisdom, hand wisdom, technology and testing the connection The different material worlds ('smart' and 'stupid').
The exhibition featured the works of a selected local designers from various fields who gave their interpretations of the subject, alongside them, the Aharon Feiner Eden Materials Library, presented a selection of materials from the library's collection on a special scale, offering different interpretations of the term 'smart material' or 'stupid material' The materials selected for the exhibition, some materials in industrial production, some natural or disposable, refer to three main themes that examine the term 'smart' or 'stupid' and offer different interpretations and thoughts on the subject.