Week 8: Nanotechnology + Art

This week’s topic of nanotechnology reminded me a lot of the material I’ve been learning in one of my other courses this quarter. I never really considered how large a nanometer (nm) was when memorizing that clathrin-coated pits were 100-150 nm in diameter, or that particles between 60 and 400 nm tend to allocate in regions with cancer due to the enhancer permeability and retention effect. I simply designed nanoparticles with the appropriate size not considering how abstract this nano-scale in relation to the human experience. However, upon learning that a human hair is 50,000 nm across, I had to stop and try and grasp what order of size this new field of science and technology is working with (Gimzewski and Vesna).

IBM holds the Guinness World Record for World's

Smallest Stop-Motion Film, created by moving

individual carbon monoxide molecules using a

scanning tunneling microscope.

Graphite Nanoparticles by Cris Ofrescu. Because many
nanoparticles are smaller than the wavelengths of visible
light, many images appear grey and white. It is up to the
interpretation of the artist to colorize the images for the viewer

When science fails to conceptually explain topics, sometimes it’s better to go to the arts and humanities to try and gather a better understanding. Art and media graphics have always had a way of making the miniscule and abstract appear understandable to the ordinary eye (Lovgren). In addition, scientists will also cross the border between the two cultures if they feel that their work can better be explained through art instead of jargon-filled text. In 2006, Cris Orfescu became fascinated by the molecular “landscapes” of various materials he observed in his lab and began to use these landscapes as inspiration for his art – coining the term “nanoart” (Feder). He proceeded to hold annual competitions for other artists that also drew inspiration from images of nanoscale landscapes. However, nanoscale objects are extremely difficult to image, in fact, we weren’t able to get any sort of image at the nanoscale until the development of the scanning electron microscope (Gimzewski, Nanotech pt. 2). These artists’ goal is to spark a curiosity in the general public so that the masses can better understand nanotechnology and thus support, rather than resist, the new age technology and medicine that nanoscience will inevitably pioneer.

Scanning Tunneling Microscope used by IBM.

The extremely small scale of nanotechnology has made it a target for research and funding because of its potential to solve so many of the impasses other scientific and technological fields face. This is because many of these obstacles involve physics at the macroscale, however as we shrink to the nanoscale, the laws of physics change and quantum effects dominate (Gimzewski, Nanotech pt.1). These new phenomena are much less explored, and thus researchers, artists, and entrepreneurs alike are all interested in what potential nanotechnology holds. I, myself, am excited for nanotechnology to lead the charge for a new paradigm shift in scientific research and the many problems society faces that nanotechnology will provide a solution for.

References

Feder, Barnaby J. “The Art of Nanotech.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2008, bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/.

Gimzewski, Jim. “Nanotech Jim pt1.” YouTube, Uconlineprogram, 21 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jM6-iqzzE.

Gimzewski, Jim. “Nanotech Jim pt2.” YouTube, Uconlineprogram, 21 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEp6t0v-v9c.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. “The Nanoneme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact and Fiction in the Construction of a New Science.” Technoetic Arts, vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 2003, pp. 7–24., doi:10.1386/tear.1.1.7/0.

IBM. “A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie.” YouTube, IBM, 30 Apr. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCX78-8-q0.

IBM100. “Scanning Tunneling Microscope.” IBM - Archives - History of IBM - 1880 - United States, IBM Corporation, www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/microscope/.

Ofrescu, Cris. “Nanotechnology Art Gallery.” Nanotechnology Now, 23 Feb. 2017, www.nanotech-now.com/Art_Gallery/Cris-Orfescu.htm.

Lovgren, Stefan. “ Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?” National Geographic News, National Geographic Society, 23 Dec. 2003, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1223_031223_nanotechnology.html.