Aguahoja I (2018). The Aguahoja Artifacts Display is a catalog of material experiments spanning four years of research that shows the range of aesthetics and behaviors the Mediated Matter Group elicited in medium- to large-scale prints through performative geometric toolpaths, generative design, bio-composite distributions, and variable fabrication parameters.
Courtesy the Mediated Matter Group Aguahoja I (2018). The Aguahoja Artifacts Display is a catalog of material experiments spanning four years of research that shows the range of aesthetics and behaviors the Mediated Matter Group elicited in medium- to large-scale prints through performative geometric toolpaths, generative design, bio-composite distributions, and variable fabrication parameters.

With the Museum of Modern Art in New York closed during the current COVID-19 pandemic, Neri Oxman, the multidisciplinary designer, inventor, and founder and director of the Mediated Matter Group at the MIT Media Lab, has launched today an online version of her recent MoMA retrospective, Neri Oxman: Material Ecology. The exhibition, initially scheduled to run Feb. 22–May 25, was on view to the public for just four weeks before MoMA temporarily closed, inspiring Oxman to develop a digital experience in which visitors can virtually experience her works on display.

Mask 5 detail, Present series, Vespers collection. Designed by Neri Oxman and members of the Mediated Matter Group and 3D printed by Stratasys.
Yoram Reshef Photography Studio / Courtesy Mediated Matter Group Mask 5 detail, Present series, Vespers collection. Designed by Neri Oxman and members of the Mediated Matter Group and 3D printed by Stratasys.

Paralleling the in-person exhibition, the Material Ecology exhibition website features seven interdisciplinary projects that unite biology, technology, and emerging digital fabrication methods. All explore the "ability to design living matter as the built environment, rather than for it," according to the website's introduction.

Oxman and her team have organized the virtual exhibition into two main sections: project and platforms. In projects, visitors can explore the products and installations displayed in the physical exhibition, delving more deeply into their context, creation and installation processes, and their real-world applications. In the platforms section, visitors can learn more about the materials and mediums that Oxman developed to craft the individual projects.

Silk Pavilion (2013). View through the apertures as the silkworms skin the structure.
The Mediated Matter Group. Courtesy the Mediated Matter Group. Silk Pavilion (2013). View through the apertures as the silkworms skin the structure.

Oxman and her team even translate the MoMA exhibition's highlight—a close-up view of Silk Pavilion II, a towering web of spun silk commissioned for the show create in collaboration by Oxman and an army of 17,532 silk worms. The website walks viewers through the detailed design and creation process in a new video.

Visitors can experience Neri Oxman: Material Ecology, here.