The exhibition explores the appearance of materials relative to their properties, performance, origin, and lifecycle. How materials appear visually from a human-centered perspective is a matter of expectation. Based on its looks, a material may in this way be perceived as authentic, sensuous, honest, precious, cheap, fake, fragile, resilient, healthy, or toxic. Depending on one’s expectations, such encounters with materials may elicit a sense of discovery, disappointment, or absolute delight.
Starting with the premise that the appearance of materials is not socially neutral, the exhibition seeks to connect the audience’s perspective based on visual information with a deeper consideration of where the materials on view come from, how they were produced, what their behavior is, as well as what their net contribution to the planet and its inhabitants is. Today’s most innovative and ecologically responsive materials, many of which are included in the exhibition, defy easy categorization based on surface appearance. If in another space or time discrepancies between appearance and substance may be deemed as problematic, in today’s material world, as Looks Like But Isn’t demonstrates, it is a sign of ingenuity.
Designed as a series of diorama-like displays placed throughout the Materials Lab’s collection, the exhibition uses the language of architectural models as a means of imagining alternate material realities across multiple scales. The exhibition is part of the Material Lab’s effort to reframe its existing materials collection through the lens of circularity, embodied carbon, health, and social equity. Initiated in 2022 with the Interior Design Program, the endeavor has been funded by a special $60,000 grant by the New York-based Angelo Donghia Foundation.
Curated by Igor Siddiqui
Exhibition Team: Elisabeth Allbritton, Valentina Claros Irreno, Freddie Kirk and Jen Wong (Director), with support from Alma Castro, Meghan Costello, Isaac Dailey, and Eric Hayes.