Design and the Elastic Mind , a dynamic survey of contemporary design at New York's Museum of Modern Art, comprises a wide breadth of inquiries: expansive gallery displays of objects and installations, an online exhibition with 300 projects, a two-day conference, and a striking catalogue. The catalogue focuses the multitude of experiences, easing one's comprehension of design advancements in the realms of technology, science, and society. Exhibition co-curator Paola Antonelli sets the stage with her essay about the designer's new role as interpreter — rather than mere shaper — of scientific and technological innovations. Hugh Aldersey-Williams examines curiosity as a motivating factor in design discoveries; Peter Hall looks at diagrams, maps, and visualization tools as a means to filter and comprehend information; and Ted Sargent discusses nanotechnology. Each essay concludes with a portfolio of design objects and concepts, such as FRONT's Sketch Furniture , in which freehand sketches provide the basis for furniture forms, and James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau's Smell + , which allows blind dates to smell one another before meeting.

Design and the Elastic Mind is on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York through May 12.