A small art world in the microscope

Art & Science

 When working as a researcher at the Medical Information Research Center, I planned a microscopic photo exhibition. My boss, Professor Young-Sung Lee, visited the US for a while and was impressed by the microscopic photo exhibition hosted by Kodak Film and wanted to realize it in Korea. It was my job to implement his idea that the medical field is also a knowledge industry that creates infinite content. So I mainly organized an offline exhibition on one side and, on the other side, an online collection, planning and promoting shows and managing the contents. 

 Professionals working in the medical department are incredibly reluctant to create something without evidence. A fatal accident occurs when they make something without any continuous groundless experimentation. In general, it seems that art that constantly creates new things and medicine that continuously learns the old theories repeatedly will not harmonize. And ordinary people think with common sense that an artist and a scientist are in parallel. 

 The Biomicroscopy Exhibition is an event in which experts in bio and medicine have selected photographs of cells taken in a laboratory with an artistic sense. As I looked at the results, I saw art and medical science work like an orchestra that produces outstanding notes with different instruments. Therefore they presented their artworks to break the prejudice that artistic sense was not necessary for the study. Actually, even in Leonardo da Vinci, art was also the means of explaining and expressing science in detail. During the Renaissance, painters were also doctors. They tried to dissect a body with insane curiosity, drew each piece, and record it for descendants.
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​Leonardo da Vinci's anatomy

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In my dream, by Myungja Anna Koh

 Notably, there are some scientists and doctors around me who are talented in art. For example, when I was in Germany, the mathematician who bought my painting "in my dreams" used oil to draw stunning Chinese landscapes, hung them all over the house, and invited us.
What is more, the Chinese dentist I met in Long island showed me some fantastic oil paintings he painted in his free time. 
 Hee-Doo Chung, who I came to know when working as a medical informatics researcher in Korea, is a surgeon and a person with an excellent talent for art. He is living a new life by creating prescription medical animations that explain to patients and  achieves the challenge of commercializing it.

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 In fact, from my research, there are attempts at universities or graduate schools to create new careers by combining these two fields appropriately. For instance, the below screen announces an excellent example of both art and science into a rewarding career. 
" Do you enjoy both science and art ? Are you having a hard time deciding whether you want to go get your bachelors in biology or graphic design? Good news! There are ways to turn your passion for both art and science into a rewarding career! Whether you think of yourself as an artist with an interest in science or a scientist with a flair for design there are many careers out there where skills and concepts from these two seemingly opposite fields can overlap. " (cited in reference)

Click on the screen below to see the full content.​

Returning to the story of the biomicroscopy exhibition, the beautiful artworks that I appreciated during the photography exhibition are still unforgettable.

For a moment, I'm going to introduce some of the most impressive works. 

Kissing (SEM 400X, Dongpyo Ryu) he took the joint of a long-bearded yellow Chim ant with an electron microscope.

Dandelion Flower fields (Kim Ji-young), intestinal glands, and goblet cells in the intestine split into yellow dandelion flowers.

Scream (Han-na Park), a cross-section of bamboo charcoal was sanded and taken enlarged. It is also reminiscent of the "scream" of Norwegian artist Munch.

Blooming (Choi Ki-Ju), a flower bud that just burst She removed the pimple on the rabbit ear and took an enlarged picture.

Indeed, people who have the ability to draw scientific data and evidence with their eyes by applying the expressive power of art with freedom as its essence make us take a step forward. The site below introduces non-profit organizations that are engaged in exhibitions or activities that combine art and science.

Art & Science collaboration INC (ASCI) http://www.asci.org/homepage.html

We hope that these joint efforts will create new forms of form in the future, and this form will develop each new area as if it were made from a tree branch.

​Reference:
https://biochem.web.utah.edu/iwasa/PDFs/STEM_Fair_Careers_Infographic.pdf
http://www.paxnet.co.kr/tbbs/view?id=N00811&seq=16282797