Recently, I had taken upon a new hobby that some might consider to be rather niche: microscopy! I bought my first compound microscope a couple weeks ago from AmScope and have been playing around with it ever since, imaging all sorts of samples from fibers of tissues to saliva. One thing that struck me particularly while venturing into the microscopic world was the vast patterns and shapes of these micro-structures; there was something inherently beautiful and unique about each sample. This prompted me to do some more digging online, which brought me to amazing scenes of life under the microscope–some works of art that an amateur hobbyist like myself could never aspire to capture.
I first found Art Under the Microscope’s gallery to include some pretty spectacular works of fluorescence microscopy. Not only do they show you the image captured from the microscope, but also a fiber artist’s rendition of it through the medium of quilt. The intricacies of every seam matched to the psychedelic patterns of cellular life is mesmerizing in every example.
But microscopy has always influenced art–not only in the modern day. The history of microscopy has spanned all the way to the 1500s, when the first compound microscope was invented. As microscopy as a field attracted more and more people, methods of recording microscopic information also became necessary. Since photography was not yet a thing, artists came to the rescue. Beautiful depictions of life under the microscope were displayed in illustration form. As technology advanced and globalized, scientists and artists alike were drawn to microscopes for their abilities to see what we previously could not have. And the best part was the controllability of it all. A magnification of 50X could show you details of the roughness of a surface, while a magnification of 1000X could show you a single cell. Thus, people had more options to capture on a microscope… which translated to more curiosity… which inspired more interpretations… and more art!
Nowadays, microscopy as an artform has inspired many grade school teachers to create relevant activities for students to participate in. Whether it be studying the way biological systems naturally tend to certain structures, viewing the effects of osmosis through potato cubes, or simply seeing pretty patterns, microscopes have no doubt played a significant role in not only scientific discovery, but also visual media. I love my microscope for this very reason, and I don’t see any future where I don’t continue messing around with it.
References
Art Under the Microscope: Cell Press. (n.d.). Www.cell.com. https://www.cell.com/pictureshow/art-under-the-microscope
Howell, J. (2019, February 5). Microscopy in Art. Maverick Beyond. https://maverickbeyond.com/2019/02/05/microscopy-in-art/
Specialty, S. (2017, September 19). Art Under the Microscope. Schoolyard Blog | Teacher Resources | School Specialty. https://blog.schoolspecialty.com/art-under-the-microscope/
