Research - Diatoms

 I've started gathering imagery for my new project by researching diatoms which are box-like microscopic plant forms found in all types of bodies of water. I first found out about them when I was setting up my own aquarium - a few weeks into cycling the water, a layer of fluffy brown algae began to coat everything in the tank, but I couldn't have guessed how cool diatoms looked under the microscope until I found this article.

www.mccrone.com/mm/the-collecting-cleaning-and-mounting-of-diatoms/

It explains that they are such attractive little objects that the Victorians collected them! The article also takes you through the steps of how to separate and clean diatoms but I don't have the facilities for that, I would have really liked to try it otherwise.

I like all the different geometric structures, they look really ornamental and intricate and I think it would be interesting to make some scaled-up versions using ceramics where I could create textures and different glazes to get unusual effects. They're very much like snowflakes in that each one is unique and this is part of what makes them so special and collectable (to microscopists anyway). The colours are neutral but the blue ones are quite surreal and otherworldly. The lay-out of separate diatoms on the black background reminds me of The Office of Collecting which I researched in my project last year, whose images show manmade objects but presented in the same informative way.

I feel most drawn to the star shaped ones, they look really tactile and playful, I can imagine rolling one around in my hand if only it were big enough. Star shapes in nature always seem quite unusual and special, and we find beauty in them, such as flowers and snowflakes. The integral strength of the geometric structure and symmetry maybe play a role  in what we find visually attractive - things that are predictable are safe, while inconsistent things make us uncomfortable. In a similar way, people with symmetrical facial features are considered more beautiful by society, and a strong jawline is favoured over a soft one. However these images show that natural beauty comes in many shapes whether angular and pointy or rounded and smooth.


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