#microscopy art

[shuckle24]

Microscopy: Crystals and Blandness

I used to do casual science experiments, still do. A year or two ago, I did an experiment that created a bunch of Sodium Sulfate (or Sodium Chloride, don’t remember exactly) solution as a byproduct. Due to absolutely forgetting that they were in my cupboard, the solution evaporated over time, forming thick, white crystals.

On Tuesday, my usual microscopy day, I decided to whip out those crystals instead of a new, planned-out batch. Turns out — they’re pretty bland. Translucent and white, they don’t offer a lot at first glance. Regardless, I managed to get some decent pictures out of them.

Sodium Sulfate (probably) at 40x magnifications. They look like stalactites, or geological structures out of a sci-fi planet. The shape exudes a sense of enormity, of strength and massiveness, despite being remarkably time and fragile. Note the blurred crystal at the back, the darker crystals at the front, and the tiny disfigurations.

This, like another similar picture, resembles a chaotic ocean washing onto a bright shore in a sweeping wave. There is a bit too much going on here, but I like the metaphor.

Not blue — I used a blue filter to give it more character. And it worked. Still Sodium Sulfate, but the color does it justice.

The original. Looking at it closely now, on a bigger screen, I wonder if it really did need the blue filter. Look at the complexity of the crystals, the waxing and waving translucency. The dark spots, the character. Maybe I was wrong, maybe it holds up on its own.

Dried out Calcium Hydroxide on a watch glass. Yes, I hate that it is mostly out of focus too, but look at the pattern. Look at the tiny dots, the spaces in between. Look at it repeating throughout the field of view and imagine it repeating throughout the entire watch glass. Nature is mesmerizing in its repetitiveness. Bunch of the same, yet all of them different. Tiny dots wonderfully collaged together, insignificant individuals making up something far greater and far more beautiful.

Same thing, same field, just a tiny impurity in the middle. I love impurities. A contrast in the regularity of a structure. It is often flaws that give something character. What is it? It is an unpleasant yellow, marked with even more unpleasant black. Yet, it is the center of the stage, distinct amidst the field of Calcium Hydroxide crystals, which, now that this is in view, fades inconspicuously into the backdrop, becoming the backdrop itself.

Zoomed in. So much closer, yet I have no idea what it is. A piece of floating trash that wandered into my room, probably. Striking nonetheless. Also look at how the zoom brings the crystals into focus. They seem to shine (or reflect) a bit more light. They’re brighter, more in focus, more like entities than a background.

[niqvassieart]

Meeting a water bear. 🌱

Basically wishing I could make myself tiny and get lost in some moss. So much beauty in little drops of water.

[mugene-art]

https://mugeneartshop.etsy.com

⬆️ Diatom and bacteria art prints now available!!

See how I made the original pieces: P. dendritiformis, Eating Iron, Microcosms

[heartnosekid]

cosmodernism on ig

[olitheworm]

Bryum wishes to remind everyone: Don't drag the microscope. Just don't.

[accretion-disk-anxiety]

Cell structure of a mystery leaf sent to me by a mystery leafer. It was fairly dessicated on arrival, so I didn't expect it to be nearly so vibrant! That green is utterly entrancing - I really could (and probably will) stare at this leaf under the scope until I get a migraine.

If you have a plant you'd like photos of, feel free to reach out and send me a leaf!

Photos taken w/ 10x lens.

[marejadilla]

Linda Westin "Illuminated Dendrology" "Linda Westin’s portraits of the woods are strongly influenced by her background in imaging neuroscience. Especially the way she works with color is reminiscent of this experience with fluorescence microscopy, where she illuminated neurons instead of tree branches. Now she uses a camera to bring this way of seeing from the nano world to our human scale. Revealing the unifying morphology of macrocosm and microcosm.

As above, so below. It is this integration of parallel perceptions that makes me love her art even more.

In the middle of the forest there’s an unexpected clearing which can only be found by those who have gotten lost". TOMAS TRANSTRÖMER

[th3-0bjectivist]

“Petri Dish” - Acrylic paint on canvas

[he-who-needs-to-be-silenced]

OHSHIT EGG TIME

[shuckle24]

Microscopy: Foam, Red and White

We all love foam. It’s soft, fun to play with, and keeps our delicate belongings safe. Turns out, the structure of foam is miraculous once viewed under a microscope. This makes sense: foam is a fibrous matrix of interconnected tissues that is bound to be intricate and captivating at the microscopic level (and isn’t something I discovered completely by accident because I was out of crystals and was trying everything I could get my hands on).

So, ladies and gentlemen, foam, red and white.

So fragile-looking, so thin, so delicate. As if they’d crumple under the slightest touch. Which is true, they do. But together, with each of the fibers holding the other up, they are surprisingly resilient and possess a (relatively) high tensile strength.

A greater magnification. Hazy, as if the background is sheathed in fog. The microscopic ends stick out like the sharp blades of snowflakes. And the white, unfocused void, well, that is something I’m not ready to tackle yet.

A little closer up. See how some fibers reach out and interconnect into pentagons or hexagons. Notice how others only reach into minuscule oblivion, their ends sticking out. Yearning, perhaps, for a connection, or for an old junction long ripped apart.

I love repeating structures. The walls are almost hexagonal. The fibers light, thin, and interconnected. Almost representing bubbles or froth. Maybe a hive, or a zoomed-out, black-and-white image of a brain, the neural circuits and synapses a chaotic jumble, yet at the same time possessing a natural symmetry. Notice also the blurred structures in the background. This same image repeated layer after layer throughout the entirety of the foam, but the microscope could only focus on one layer at a time.

This is from a piece of red, packaging foam, pretty tough to the touch. My first thought was red onion cells, but it feels more akin to human tissue. Red-tinted. Thin and flimsy to the point of transparency. Delicate, yet possessing a sort of wafery complexity.

Wonderful, vivid, elegant, and red. Look at the tiny, fluttering lines, the fibers, the curvatures, and the overlapping layers. Look at the delicacy, the vibrancy of the color, and how the light filters through the bottom. Zoom in to see the tiny inconsistencies between the cells, bits of dust, probably, but who knows what exactly is trapped between those folds?

A bit more mauve–if I’m using the word correctly. Richer, darker, and more elegant, but with the same flutter and flimsy as the last. Notice the minute imperfections between the cells, the dirt, and the debris. Notice also the blurred out portions at the top. They were part of a layer above that I focused out of view.

[niqvassieart]

microscope life drawings - tardigrade and colony of Vorticella ciliates.

[andmaybegayer]

Hey. 108 gigapixel scan of Girl With a Pearl Earring with depth information.

[jamesusilljournal]

@cosmodernism

[elkement]

Wish you all peaceful holidays!

I've run out of new art to share, so I am diving deep into my archives.

Galaxies of Diffraction

A collage of electron microscopy images (electron diffraction patterns) from scientific publications (public domain), run through a vortex filter.

I've once analyzed such images daily.

Created as an illustration for a blog post about covectors and a nostalgic look back:

[olitheworm]

Handheld Microscope🔬-- New Icon for myself, also done live on stream. I literally streamed longer than I normally do because I really wanted to get this done. Worth it🦐

[elimilligan]

Some miracles of my life. 🫧