Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design : MOMA

From Preface: "Many centuries ago, medieval alchemists sought to discover a way to transmute base materials, such as lead, into silver and gold. While they desired the riches such knowledge might reap, the alchemists also sought to understand the underlying structures of the material world. In the late twentieth century, the transmutation of materials is no longer a goal but a reality. The advancements in our ability to analyze and manipulate the molecular structures of materials have created a whole new genre of well-designed objects. Commenting on atomic theory, the noted physicist Richard P. Feynman remarked that one had to lose one' common sense in order to perceive what happens at the atomic level. So, too, must viewers of the exhibition Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design lose their common sense - a broad awareness of traditional materials, such as wood, metal, and glass - when considering 'mutant materials' : fabrics made from ceramics, windows that are alternatively clear and translucent, or plastics woven into the most durable of materials. The exhibition and this book, which accompanies it, were prepared under unusually tight time constraints by Paola Antonelli, Associate Curator in The Museum of Modern Art's Department of Architecture and Design...." Exhibition shown May 25 - August 27, 1995, MoMA, New York. Hardcover with resin overlay, plain translucent glassine dust jacket, 9 x 12 inches, 128 pages, lavishly illustrated.