Abstract art from under the Microscope, ILSI mini course presented by: Constance Moore and Lynn Zamarra

1. Photomicrography:
Abstract Art
from under the
Microscope
Constance Moore
Lynn Zamarra
A.C.O.E. Integrated Learning Summer Institute
2012

2. Through Line:
How can we use the Teaching for Understanding framework
to develop cross-disciplinary units that explore the relationship
of the part to the whole?
Understanding Goals:
1. How can participants use the elements of art to explore a
photomicrograph?
2. How can photomicrographs teach us about patterns and the repeated
structures universal in Nature?
3. How can identifying forms and classifying visual information from
photomicrographs deepen our understanding of art and science?

3. 3-2-1 Bridge - a Thinking Routine
While this routine is about uncovering students’ prior knowledge of a topic, it was designed
in such a way as to push beyond revealing just the facts. Instead it focuses on the associations
students have around the topic in terms of words, questions and connections.
The bridging part of the routine is designed to help students link their prior knowledge,
questions and understandings with the new ideas they develop as the unit progresses.
Initial Response: New Response:
• 3 words • 3 words
• 2 questions • 2 questions
• 1 metaphor/simile • 1 metaphor/simile
Bridge ( linking the two):

4. About Sacred Geometry
Sacred Geometry - In nature, we find patterns, designs and structures from the most minuscule
particles, to expressions of life discernible to the human eye, to the greater cosmos. They are symbolic
of the underlying metaphysical principle of the inseparable relationship of the part to the whole.
Sunflowers contain spirals that The nautilus seashell and the spiral galaxy
move clockwise and counter- bare an uncanny resemblance.
clockwise.These patterns are
derived naturally from the Fibonicci
Sequence, closely related to the
Golden Mean (phi).
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5. About Sacred Geometry (con’t).
Human dimensions are also governed by certain geometric
patterns and relationships.
Da Vinci’s Vetruvian Man as the cosmografia del minor
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(cosmography of the microcosm).
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• a palm is four fingers
• a foot is four palms
• a cubit is six palms
• four cubits make a man
• a pace is four cubits▪
• a man is 24 palms
• the length of the outspread arms is equal to the height of
a human being.
• from below the chin to the top of the head is one-eighth
of the height of a human being.
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6. About Photomicrography
Through photomicrography—the process of photographing something under magnification, taken through a
microscope —nature's infinite assortment of patterns, colors, textures, and shapes takes its rightful place in
the art world. Herein lies symmetry.
There are crystal structures reminiscent of a Miro, metals with a Pop Art quality, and plant fiber textures that Cartier-
Bresson would love to have photographed.
Wild Cucumber

7. About Photomicrography (con’t).
What Are Photomicrographs used for?
Photomicrographs are useful to professional fields and industry, including the life sciences, bio-
research, medical science, material science and forensics science. For example, photomicrographs
are used in pathology, to create images of cells for additional reference. Photomicrographs commonly
accompany scientific publications which can range from the discovery of a new virus to research about
the inner workings of plant cells.
Making a Photomicrograph:
Below is a link that shows how a photomicrograph is made of myoblasts, precursor cells important in
repairing muscles.
The nuclei are shown in blue,the cytoskeleton in red and muscle protein in green.
Making a micrograph is an 11 step process that involves staining with antibodies, exposure to various
wavelengths of light and computer controlled color enhancement ( the colors of various substances are
artificial - they are not naturally occurring).
How a Micrograph Is Made

8. Samples of Photomicrographs
Vodka Crystal

9. Samples of Photomicrographs (con’t.)
Pigment Cells and Lens from the Compound Eye of the Honeybee

10. Artists Inspired by Photomicrography - Klee
The Impact of Photography on Painting
Tropical Blossom by Paul Klee demonstrates the influence of photomicrography. In looking at the
development of the camera and how it has influenced artists of other media, such as paint, we could say the
camera obscura spurred the development of the rules of perspective. Many Art historians believe that
photographic printing influenced the development of Impressionism. As film speeds improved, with time-lapse
photography, the study of movement in man and animals impacted Futurist and Cubist painting. Then came
photomicrography, which opened up a whole new world. Such photos were to influence Paul Klee in his
studies of naturalistic abstraction.
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11. Artists Inspired by Photomicrography - Leslie Sobel
Micrographic landscape, encaustic & photomicrograph
Diatom Abstraction II, encaustic on panel
on panel, 24 x 36
( photomicrograph of diatoms - a single-celled algae)

12. Artists Inspired by Photomicrography -
Aoife O'Donnell
Removed from their usual context of the laboratory, these new genetic portraits seek to interrupt the traditional notion of
the self-portrait in photography prompting the viewer to consider the transformations and changes occurring inside the body
on a cellular level, and questions when the alternative portrait produced by scientific imaging moves from the generic to the
personal.
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Self-Portrait, Hair Follicle 100x Self-Portrait, Saliva 100x

13. Artists Inspired by Photomicrography - Terrence Lundy
“ For more than 30 years I have been inspired by the abstract images that can only be seen at high magnification
through the microscope. I am a trained microscopist and a practitioner of the nearly lost art of photomicrography. I
have collected thousands of photomicrographs and these microscopic subjects provide the basis and color palette for
the images I paint. So, whether I am painting or assembling, my art is always developed from these shapes, textures
and colors.” - Terrence Lundy

14. Photomicrograph Analysis Using the Elements of Art and
Principles of Design
Soy Sauce

15. Grade 3 Student Work
3D Sculpture Sample:
from Photomicrograph to Relief Sculpture
Spherulites - Radial Chain Growth When a Polymer Spherulites as a Relief Sculpture
Polymer Crystalizes

16. Grade 4 Student Work
3D Sculpture Sample:
from Photomicrograph to Relief Sculpture
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No Center Protein No Center Protein Sculpture