Week 8 Blog: Nanotech + Art

            Nanotechnology is a scientific that goes largely unnoticed in the modern world yet, as the lecture material shows, has a significant impact on our everyday lives. Nanotech is a science dealing with structures on a scale only slightly larger than that of atoms, making it invisible unless one has access to highly sophisticated technology. But the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in the 1980's has led to the creation of art on the nano-scale.

            Nanotechnology and art complement each other based on the idea that nanotechnology can be used to create art while at the same time art can make nanotechnology easier to conceptualize and understand. Cris Orfescu appears to be one of the leading artists in the field of nanotechnology (Feder, 2008). Orfescu is an artist with a background in materials science who also happens to have a passion for abstract art. He has done much to advance the NanoArt field since his jump into the field in 1989 (nanotech-now.com, 2015).

Figure 1: "Power" by Cris Orfescu using Graphite nanoparticles.

            The use of art to conceptualize nanotechnology is the other side of the relationship between the two subjects. Art has traditionally been used to create images of potential objects and shapes that can't be physically seen using existing technology. This is how nanostructures were originally visualized and existing architecture even contributed to the field in the case of the "buckeyball" structure of pure carbon (Fernandez et al., 2007). In his proposal for nanomachines, Eric Drexler used schematic diagrams to illustrate his otherwise invisible proposition (Baum, 2003).

Figure 2: Nanotech gear as envisioned by Eric Drexler

            While Dr. Gimzewski asserted that nanotechnology has nearly boundless potential and is at work in our lives constantly through at least 1,000 commercial products, I question if this technology is actually scalable. There has been much talk about the potential for nanotechnology but not much has arisen in terms of practical applications (Koshy, 2013). While hydrophobic glass has been used widely and some other applications have made it to market, I think the application that cements nanotechnology as truly revolutionary and remarkable has yet to be found. I still have hope that this discovery will be made and have full faith that it will be used responsibly and potentially revolutionize our world.  

Figure 3: Hydrophobic glass enabled by nanotechnology

Works Cited

Baum, Rudy. "C&EN: COVER STORY - NANOTECHNOLOGY." Chemical and Engineering News. Web. 25 May 2015.< http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8148/8148counterpoint.html>.

"Cris Orfescu." Nanotechnology Art Gallery. Nanotechnology Now. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.nanotech-now.com/Art_Gallery/Cris-Orfescu.htm>.

Feder, Barnaby. "The Art of Nanotech." Bits The Art of Nanotech Comments. New York Times, 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/>.

Koshy, Jacob. "Nanotech Research Speeds Up, but Applications Fail to Materialize." Http://www.livemint.com/. 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.livemint.com/Specials/j8UZSy0iiA8kRpgtjwxioM/Research-speeds-up-but-applications-fail-to-materialize.html>.

Maclovio Fernandez, Martha Farnsworth, Luca Sabbatini, Buckyballs: Their history and discovery. OpenStax CNX. Feb 20, 2007 http://cnx.org/contents/4a177b0e-1228-41d4-9d62-d4f0a9a3f335@1.