Cris Orfescu, Molecular Tentacles - nanosculpture

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Flaitz digs into her panels, creating “fissures” or deep crevices that hint at further worlds beyond, then builds up her surfaces with various compounds, salts, resins and glazes to bring to life geological landscapes that man has created but until her work could not truly inhabit. “For all the benefits of digital technology,” says Flaitz, “the machines man creates literally shut him off from direct experience, reducing everything to the virtual world of light under glass. Within my lifetime, humanity has become beholden to a man-made world we cannot touch or feel. But once we get down to the molecular level, we find that the tidy clean chips and boards that run and rule our days are really organic minerals subject to the stresses of natural geophysics, and the illusion of perfection quickly breaks down, replaced by a natural beauty that is profound, chaotic and much more interesting.”
While the final pieces themselves look like they occurred naturally, the work required to make them seem so is anything but a simple process. Single panels can take weeks or even months to layer enough to create the desired effect, and the combination of sometimes volatile materials often requires the artist to be as much chemist as painter or sculptor.
Flaitz has exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently in Cologne, Germany. She holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Wales in Cardiff, Great Britain and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the prestigious College of Ceramics at Alfred University in New York. She and her family live in Newburgh, New York.

This article is an excerpt from the exhibition program.

The winning entry in the Life Sciences category at Andor 2011 Insight Awards was Dr. Satoshi Nishimura of the University of Tokyo with a new in vivo imaging technique which will allow scientists to work at a cellular level and will provide the basis for future clinical usage of in vivo imaging for humans. He entered a series of confocal captures entitled ‘Inflammatory cellular dynamics in obese adipose tissue revealed by in vivo imaging technique’ using an Andor iXon3 EMCCD camera and a Confocal Spinning Disk Unit.

Dr. Satoshi Nishimura is a world-renowned expert of intravital molecular imaging; which means in vivo imaging of microcirculation and molecular dynamics in living animals with high spatiotemporal resolution. Intravital Molecular Imaging is a powerful tool to elucidate not only vascular pathological conditions such as arteriosclerosis, but also to study molecular mechanisms of pathological conditions caused by complicated and multi-cellular abnormal interactions, such as cancer or metabolic syndrome.

The winners were selected from a panel of expert judges from both life and physical science that included Dr. David Jess of Queen’s University, Dr. Neil Ganem of the Harvard Medical School, Professor Stefan Diez of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Dr. Gábor Csúcs of the Institute for Biochemistry in Zürich, and Dr. Donal Denvir from Andor Technology.

"Self Portrait of Approximately 100 Trillion Carbon Atoms at 293 Degrees Kelvin", by Jonathon Keats

A graphite pencil was drawn across a piece of paper, depositing a layer of graphene. The paper is maintained at room temperature (293 degrees Kelvin), such that the approximately 100 trillion carbon atoms vibrate thermodynamically, each drawing its own nano-scale self-portrait in the conventional artistic medium of pencil on paper.
Jonathon Keats is a conceptual artist, fabulist, and critic residing in San Francisco, CA, USA. Recently he choreographed the first ballet for honeybees at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. He has also exhibited extraterrestrial abstract artwork at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, unveiled a prototype ouija voting booth for the 2008 election at the Berkeley Art Museum, opened a porn theater for house plants at Montana State University, and attempted to genetically engineer God in collaboration with scientists at the University of California. Exhibited internationally, his projects have been documented by PBS, NPR, and the BBC World Service, garnering favorable attention in periodicals ranging from The San Francisco Chronicle and The Los Angeles Times, to Nature and New Scientist, to Flash Art and ArtUS. Since graduating summa cum laude from Amherst College in 1994, he has been a guest lecturer at UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, and has been awarded fellowships by Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, the MacNamara Foundation, and the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona. He is represented by Modernism Gallery in San Francisco.

"Quantum Abyss 1", by Cris Orfescu: nanosculpture (sculpture at molecular and atomic levels) created by casting a mixture of polymers, Copper nanoparticles and Carbon microparticles on glass. The stucture has been visualized with a scanning electron microscope. The final image was captured in a computer, digitally manipulated, and printed on premium photo luster paper with archival inks specially formulated to last for a long time.

For the first time in Israel, in November last year, NanoIsrael 2010 was hosting an exhibition of works of art based on nanotechnology. Epson sponsored the exhibition and provided prizes for the top three selected works, as judged by a jury of experts in the arts and sciences.

The exhibition was held during the NanoIsrael 2010 Conference and Exhibition at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv, on 8-9 November, 2010. Prizes were awarded during the closing ceremony on 9th November.

I have been invited to exhibit as guest artist. The artworks were printed by Epson from my digital files and after the show, the artworks were donated to different Universities in Israel to promote the NanoArt, Nanoscience, and Nanotechnology.

NanoArt is a new art discipline at the art-science-technology intersections. To read more about NanoArt and Nanotechnology please visit the entire nanoart21.org website. The 5th anniversary edition of the worldwide competition NanoArt 2011 is open to all artists 18 years and older. The online exhibition will open for public in April, 2011 .

For the 5th anniversary edition of this competition, nanoart21.org founded by artist and scientist Cris Orfescu (www.crisorfescu.com) will provide 3 high resolution monochromatic electron scans of nanosculptures created by Orfescu. The participating artists will have to alter the provided image(s) in any artistic way to finish the artistic-scientific process and create NanoArt work(s). The artists and scientists are strongly encouraged to participate with their own images as long as these visualize micro or nano structures.
For more information, visit NanoArt 2011 competition site.

""Quantum Tunneling", by Orfescu

Passion for Knowledge is a festival that brings world leading scientists and humanists together from different disciplines and cultures to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Donostia International Physics Center under the commitment for progress of science driven by the love for knowledge. Along with highlighting the thirst for knowledge as the driving force behind scientific, technological and cultural progress, the festival aims to expand the debate and to engage the society in the celebration, and is spread out to different venues in the entire city of San Sebastian. The festival comprises a number of outreach activities such as encounters, exhibitions, seminars and contests with the objective of promoting science as a cultural activity, establishing connections between scientists and citizens, and fostering the participation of the public in the dissemination of science.

The NanoArt21 exhibition (http://www.dipc10.eu/en/the-city/passion_for_art) was open from September 20 to October 10, 2010. The exhibition curated by Cris Orfescu (USA) and Igor Campillo Santos (Spain) features 2D, video, and multimedia works authored by 31 worldwide Top 10 artists at 4 editions of the NanoArt International Online Competition: Imamedin Amiraslan (Azerbaijan), Daniela Caceta, Maria Matheus, Ricardo Tranquilin (Brazil), Bjoern Daempfling, Jan Schmoranzer (Germany), Gilberto Sossella, Simone Battiston (Italy), Teresa Majerus (Luxemburg), Pilar Azuara (Mexico), Han Halewijn (Netherlands), Elena Lucia Constantinescu (Romania), Janko Jelenc, Teja Krasek (Slovenia), Frances Geesin, Leonel Marques (UK), Anna Ursyn, Carol Flaitz, Chris Robinson, Cris Orfescu, Darcy Lewis, David Derr, David Hylton, Janis Kirstein, Jean Constant, Linda Alterwitz, Lisa Black, Patrick Millard, Shruti Gour, Deeraj Roy, Steven Pollard (USA). After the show, the artworks will be exhibited in different research centers in San Sebastian city: nanoGUNE, DIPC, the Faculty of Chemistry…

NanoArt21 was founded by the scientist and artist Cris Orfescu, to promote NanoArt throughout the world as a reflection of the technological development. Orfescu considers that NanoArt is a more attractive and effective way of communicating with the general public in order to provide information on the new technologies of the 21st Century. NanoArt aims to raise the awareness of the general public with regard to nanotechnology and its impact on our lives.

“NanoArt is a new art discipline at the art-science-technology intersections. It features nanolandscapes (molecular and atomic landscapes which are natural structures of matter at molecular and atomic scales) and nanosculptures (structures created by scientists and artists by manipulating matter at molecular and atomic scales using chemical and physical processes). These structures are visualized with powerful research tools like scanning electron microscopes and atomic force microscopes and their scientific images are captured and further processed by using different artistic techniques to convert them into artworks showcased for large audiences.” (Cris Orfescu)

"Nano-bottles", by Wei Wu

The image (click on it to view a larger size) depicts two nano-bottles made of photoresist. Both of them are yellow color coded, and the liquid in the bottles are made by using different intensities of colors. The two nano-bottles are produced by a novel nanolithography technique based on micro-/nano-spheres on photoresist. More details about the research can be found in the following papers: W. Wu et al, Nanotechnology, vol. 18 (48), pp. 485302, 2007, and W. Wu et al J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, vol. 26 (5), pp. 1745, 2008.

Wei Wu is a PhD candidate and research assistant at Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Northwestern University. Wu led different research on novel nanolithography technique, electrically tunable nanodot/nanowire detectors, and plasmonic enhanced quantum well detectors, and published more than 20 professional journal and conference papers.

Click on the image to see the video

The coming era of nanotechnology has become increasingly essential to current scientific and futurist thought. Small scaled devices called nanobots will one day be put into the body and respond to our biological systems, truly binding the organic and synthetic nature of our bodies. These nanobots may help us ward off diseases, enhance our memories, reduce signs of aging, increase physical dexterity and perform a wide range of other tasks.

NanoResponse incorporates the sound from Generative Behaviors. These are musical compositions composed by the computer that are ever-changing and require no assistance from the human creator once fundamental elements are set and the system begins to extrapolate them. This begs the question of the notion of artistic merit being granted to a work generated by the computer. Who is the creator?

The graphic element of the work involves a responsive nanobot. By listening to and interpolating the audio levels of Generative Behaviors the nanobot limits and expands its range as instructed by the audio output. The response given to the audio replicates the behavior a Microbivore [nanobot white blood cells] would perform in your body when you become ill. Likewise, a Respirocyte [nanobot red blood cells] can aid in the transportation of oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body. If, for instance, you suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning in a fire, Respirocytes would release into your blood stream to jump-start your system.

Nanotechnology will alter our concept of what it means to be human. NanoResponse suggests that we should not fear these developments, but embrace them.

Patrick Millard is an artist who originates from the small Western Michigan town of Lamont and now lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His work in photography, painting, mixed media, sound and installation has resulted in a diversified portfolio that addresses ideas about media, culture, technology and the interactions that human beings have within their own synthetic environment. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and continues to gain recognition. He is one of the TOP 10 artists at the 4th edition of NanoArt 2009-2010 International Online Competition organized by NanoArt21. 48 artists from 15 countries submitted 154 works at this event.

“Implantable silicon-based devices have the potential to serve as tools for mapping and treating epileptic seizures, providing more precise control over deep brain stimulation, as well as other neurological applications,” says Story Landis, PhD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which provided support for the study. The team tested the new devices – made of nanoscale, flexible ribbons of silicon embedded with 288 electrodes, forming a lattice-like array of hundreds of connections – on the heart of a porcine animal model. The tissue-hugging shape allows for measuring electrical activity with greater resolution in time and space. The new device can also operate when immersed in the body’s salty fluids. The devices can collect large amounts of data from the body, at high speed. This allowed the researchers to map electrical activity on the heart of the large animal…   read more

Piezoelectric nanogenerators to harvest energy from motion

Based on arrays containing as many as 20,000 zinc oxide nanowires in each nanogenerator, the devices can produce up to 1.2 volts of output voltage, and are fabricated with a chemical process designed to facilitate low-cost manufacture on flexible substrates. Tests done with nearly one thousand nanogenerators – which have no mechanical moving parts – showed that they can be operated over time without loss of generating capacity…   read more

Functional nanomaterials for medical devices

“Atomic layer deposition is a technique that can be used to create thin films for coating metals or ceramics, and is especially useful for coating complex nanoscale structures,” says Dr. Roger Narayan, the paper’s lead author. “This paper shows how atomic layer deposition can be used to create biologically functional materials, such as materials that have antibacterial properties”…   read more

Berkeley Scientists Report Universal Method for Creating Nanoscale Composites

Researchers at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, in collaboration with researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown how nanocomposites with desired properties can be designed and fabricated by first assembling nanocrystals and nanorods coated with short organic molecules, called ligands. These ligands are then replaced with clusters of metal chalcogenides, such as copper sulfide. As a result, the clusters link to the nanocrystal or nanorod building blocks and help create a stable nanocomposite…   read more