NanoArt Shows Beauty at Smallest Level

Every artist must draw inspiration from someplace. For Christian Orfescu that inspiration is found at his day job, working as a materials scientist for Caleb Technology, a Califorina-based company where he uses nanotechnology to design better lithium batteries.

Behold, the NanoArt.

He says, “I consider NanoArt to be a more appealing and effective way to communicate with the general public and to inform people about the new technologies of the 21st Century.”

Nanotechnology itself is not artistic. Sure, cancer patients can appreciate a new drug treatment delivered by nanotechnology. And messy men appreciate stain-resistant pants. But neither appreciates nanotechnology as an art form. After all, it is science.

Nanotechnology is a scientific discipline that describes a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale. It is incredibly multidisciplinary and includes the fields of applied physics, materials science, interface and colloid science, device physics, supramolecular chemistry (which refers to the area of chemistry that focuses on the noncovalent bonding interactions of molecules), self-replicating machines and robotics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, biological engineering, and electrical engineering.

But some researchers are finding the beauty in their exploration of the atomic world and have created works of art by merely showing the sublime world that exists at the scale of molecules.

This is where Daniel Shechtman discovered quasicrystals, a new form of matter for which he won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry last week. The quasicrystal is a partially symmetrical pattern that exists in nature and in industrial products. But in addition to be being a utilitarian breakthrough, quasicrystal formations are also beautiful.

Video of Daniel Shectman, talking about his discovery of quasicrystals and explaining periodic order.

Cris Orfescu has a much broader definition of NanoArt. He says, “[It is] a new art discipline related to micro/nanosculptures created by artists/scientists through chemical/physical processes and/or natural micro/nanostructures that are visualized with powerful research tools like Scanning Electron Microscope and Atomic Force Microscope.”

Since 2006 he has been curating NanoArt exhibits all over the world, showing the aesthetic side of the science.

A NanoArt Poem:

What is the NanoArt?

By: Johnson Gao, January 25, 2008

A friend of mine once asked me –
What is the NanoArt?
To which I could not explain.
Maybe I can make a metaphor for that, then.
The NanoArt is as good as a golden key.
It opens the gate to the other end of universe.
That belongs to the boundless micro-kingdom.
Where scenery is peculiar and unique;
Where everything looks still but is constantly in motion.
It is a down-to-earth realm of Utopia.
There are no noise, no pollution and no war.
Peace, tranquil, calm and beauty are in prevailing.
The gate of micro-kingdom is too tiny for human being.
Our bodies are obviously too large to squeeze in.
Only advanced scientific equipments make things possible,
That leads human souls to soar in that Kingdom freely