Microscope

Matilda Horton, Big Picture, Hobart City High School

In collaboration with Dr Diane Purcell, CSIRO

Artist’s Statement

The research that I have been looking at is around algae, and more specifically how it can be used with regards to humans. Diane works with many different types of algae and their possible applications, researching what different algae needs and what it can be used for.

In the lab Diane works in, we got to see the different ways algae is cultivated and researched. We got to bring in our own water samples, and see many different species with different appearances and uses.

The specific algae represented in this animation is based on a picture of Nannochloropsis oceanica, and the movement is inspired by the algae I remember watching under the microscope. I projected my animation in a circle to depict the shape you see when you look through a microscope.

The figure is made out of pipe cleaners, beads, and other materials, to mimic the way algae looks and the human form is to show how tied we are to it. Algae and kelp produce most of our oxygen, and there are many ways it can be used to help us, and that we can help it back. The two parts of this artwork alter the scale of things from what they really are, the algae being larger than it is and the human form being smaller, this is to signify the importance of algae in our environment.

I hope to show here the shapes, colours and movement of algae and how wonderful and important this tiny life form is.

Photographer: Peter Whyte

Description: The specific algae represented in this animation is based on a picture of Nannochloropsis oceanica, and the movement is inspired by the algae I remember watching under the microscope. I projected my animation in a circle to depict the shape you see when you look through a microscope. The figure is made out of pipe cleaners, beads, and other materials, to mimic the way algae looks and the human form is to show how tied we are to it.