Leonardo 2003

ARTIST'S ARTICLE

Polarization Microscopy as an Art Tool:

Border Crossing between Art and Nature

Manfred Friedrich

Volume 36 Number 3 pp. 201-206, 2003
The MIT Press

ABSTRACT

Until recently, polarization microscopy has been little developed as an art tool. It holds, however, an enormous aesthetic potential. The author first reviews the theoretical and technical background of the polarization microscopy. Then it is discussed how select microscopic structures imaged via polarization microscopy can be represented according to the artist's individual aesthetic choices. The most important of which is color design by interference. The conscious perception of the picture by the observer is discussed on the basis of our present knowledge of cognitive neurosciences. Polarization microscopy leads to a crossing of the boundaries between nature and the forms of non-representational painting.