THE SCIENCE OF ART

for anyone living in seattle, here is a little treat you can go see at the seattle aquarium. the exhibition runs though spring 2014 so there is still a chance to catch it! a perfect marriage of art and science, the exhibit is named "cleared:the art of science". it uses various species of marine life as the subject which are specially treated to make their skeletal tissues show through the flesh and skin in beautiful , saturated tones of blue, green, magenta and teals. it contains 14 large format prints of photographs, all taken by university of washington professor adam summers. all photographs are accompanied by poems written by sierra nelson. the fish you see in the collection were all either by-catch from fishery operations, incidental mortality during scientific collection, or as part of a study on the developmental trajectory of the fish skeleton. the selection of the fish takes into consideration their bone cartilage relationship and data richness which are responsible for the aesthetic appeal  and  composition  created when the subjects are stained and photographed.

picturing science describes the process "the fish depicted here have been specially treated to make the stained skeletal tissues visible through the skin and flesh.  the technique uses two vital dyes – alcian blue to stain cartilaginous elements a deep blue and alizarin red to turn mineralized tissue crimson.The specimen is then lightly bleached with hydrogen peroxide to remove dark pigments, leaving a snow-white fish. flesh is dissolved with trypsin, a digestive enzyme found in your intestine. trypsin attacks most proteins but does not harm collagen, the principle fibrous material that holds the skeleton and skin together. in order to make the skin and remaining connective tissue invisible the entire specimen is immersed in glycerin. the index of refraction of collagen is very similar to that of glycerin, so the flesh seems to disappear.

 if you return the specimen to water the collagen will turn white again and the skeleton will be hidden.this technique is only effective on specimens that are less than about 1cm in thickness, and takes much longer for thick specimens than thin. a small fish might take 3 days to process while a larger animal could take several months. images are made while the fish is in glycerin on a light table with flash fill lighting. the total length of most specimens is around 25mm, though the largest is 170mm across, so a macro lens on a Canon digital slr is used to capture the image. the photograph is printed in archival inks on an aluminum plate in a limited edition of five."

apart from visiting the exhibition you can buy these beautiful, intricate images in several forms. they are available as high quality greeting cards, a calendar or as a limited edition print. picturing science

what do you think? aren't they just dreamy?!
see cleared being displayed in it's full glory at the seattle aquarium this weekend. enjoy ! 

xo
HM