Nanotechnology and Art

Nanotechnology is a field in which I was completely unaware even existed before this lecture. Because of this, I was very impressed with everything that Dr. Gimzewski was talking about. He started off explaining how small things on the nano scale really are. The fact that bacterium, which is 1/3 as think as a piece of hair, but is still 1000 nanometers long is insane. I didn't realize we were able to work with things that small. Then he started showing us about ways it is possible to to move molecules into desired shapes, such as this race car below.

Another thing I found very interesting and very artful is the blue butterfly. When he told me that the coloring on the butterflies back wasn't actually pigment and it was instead nanophotonics I was stunned. It is insane that something so tiny can have such a huge influence on the things we see and perceive in todays worlds.

The third thing that really impressed me with this lecture is how we used nanophotonics to stain glass windows and create beautiful art with them. I didn't know much about nanotechnology before, however I really see a lot of promise between nanotechnology and art and think that this field will grow a lot as technology increases.


RESOURCES:

Blue Morpho. Digital image. Wall Paper Spot, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.hdwallpaperspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/blueMorphoZ.jpg>.

Stained Glass Windows. Digital image. Logtas, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://logtas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Stained-Glass-Windows.jpg>.

"Nano’s Big Future." Nano's Big Future. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/06/nanotechnology/kahn-text>.

Racecar. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/13/article-0-12224B43000005DC-754_634x476.jpg>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecture: Design and Media Arts 9.” University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles. October 2013.