Sunday, July 24, 2016

Week 6 - NanoTech + Art

As a physics major student, I have two aspects in terms of NanoTech + Art.

First of all, nanotechnology brings a revolutionary method of storing information. Right now, the size of a spot on a CD disk is on the order of 10 square micrometers. Nanotech has enabled people to make CD equivalents, which use pits on a spinning disk but the pits are now 50 nanometers in size. That been said, a storing device with a size of a wristwatch can store information equivalent of maybe 1,000 CDs. Imagine in the future, all the digital information, including books, journal, art works, newpapers or any digital works can be saved in a device as small as a necklace, just as a personal liberal.

Or on the other hand, nano technology can be used to build nanoelectronics.  Microabrication can make structures between several hundred nanometers and a couple of microns for electronic microprocessors and computer systems. Here I quote professor Whitesides Mallinckrodt of Chemistry at Harvard,
A phrase that I use is “micron-scale technology with the economics of newsprint.” For example, instead of buying a newspaper, you might buy a sheet of paper; the back side of it would be a battery, the front side of it would be a display. You read it, scroll to find reference works on it, see animated illustrations, and when you’re done, you throw it away. One of the things that we might be talking about in 10 years is how micron-scale electronics using new technologies has crept into all kinds of things. My belief is that almost everything-shoes, windows, children’s toys, grocery labels, shipping labels, credit cards-will have electronics in a few years.

Therefore, the method or means of production of art, such as music, painting, design or sculpture could also be revolutionized or effected by nanoelectronics.  We could expect that in the future, paintings and sculptures will have electronics in them, and the way audiences could interact with art will be changed.

The second aspect is majorly dependent on art design. A new form of art, called NanoArt, has be invented, as well as the concept of Atomism. It is a form of photography that is in a scale of nanometers. The targets are often organic cells, chemistry reactions or atomic structures. Below is two art works submitted to NanoArt 21 International Album.

Nyarlathotep(1) by Dr. Bjorn Dampfling.
Nano Medusas Dancing In The Sunset by Teja Krasek

For the special properties of those targets, artists often cooperate with scientists to consult or produce together to achieve specific effect of photographs. For example, the work Nano Medusas Dancing In The Sunset by Teja Krasek was cooperated with Dr. Janez Dolinsek from the Jozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Last but not least, here is a video from a scientific institute that discovers the beauty of those nano-photographs during experiments of gold interacting with human cells.



Sources:

Technology Review. "Nanotech: Art of the Possible." MIT Technology Review. N.p., 01 Nov. 1998. Web. 25 July 2016. 
 
Feder, Barnaby J. "The Art of Nanotech." Bits The Art of Nanotech Comments. N.p., 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 24 July 2016.
 
"Organic and Thin Film Nanoelectronics." Materials Research Institute. PennState University, n.d. Web. 24 July 2016.
 
"2007 Midas." Visiblespace. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2016. 
 
Thomas, Paul. "Midas." YouTube. N.p., 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 July 2016. 
 
Wikipedia contributors. "Atomism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Jul. 2016. Web. 25 Jul. 2016.  

Dampfling, Bjorn, Dr. Nyarlathotep (1). 20 July 2015. NanoArt International 7, NanoArt 21, Germany. NanoArt 21 Exhibitions. Web. 24 July 2016. 
 
Krasek, Teja. Nanomedusas Party. 21 July 2015. NanoArt International 7, NanoArt 21, Solvenia. NanoArt 21 Exhibitions. Web. 24 July 2016.
 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. I agree that nanotechnology is very important to the future because of the great power that it affords us. It's interesting that simply changing the scale changes the properties to such an extent. I'm very curious to see what properties will be exploited by artists in the future.

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