Blog 8 - Nanotechnology + Art

In Victoria Vesna and Jim Gimzemski's article, one of the most important lines says that Nanotechnology is now more a science than technology. To understand nanotechnology, you must first understand the nanometer: the unit for one billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology focuses on the minuscule world that exists under 100 nanometers. The individual atoms and molecules that are studied are very much not seen, bring back my point of previous weeks on the necessity of modeling. Like always, modeling leads us to art. At the Perth International Arts Festival in 2010, there was an exhibition on art in the age of nanotechnology where people could look at the tiny as reflective and beautiful.

Nanotechnology is also an innovative frontier in science, specifically health science. In Paul Rothemund's TedTalk on DNA folding, he talks about the sub-science and how it has allowed for a 'biomolecule-centric approach'. Rothemund hopes to use nanotechnology through the programming route, which leads to art again through the modeling of these molecules.

There are other frontiers that nanotechnology is on, including two new programmable devices. One is a chip that uses sensors to study someone's biology looking for biomarkers. This sensor helps medicine and health science in recording the markers for clinical use to develop the field of medicine.  The second device is a programmable 'nanoprocesser' for computer scientists to use for circuiting. This processor allows for much more complex circuiting to run through nano-sized areas, potentially revolutionizing all of technology.

Sources: 

Christodoulides, Nicolaos J., et al. “Innovative Programmable Bio-Nano-Chip Digitizes Biology Using Sensors That Learn Bridging Biomarker Discovery and Clinical Implementation.” Frontiers in Public Health, Frontiers, 2 May 2017, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00110/full.

Dillow, Clay. “The World's First Programmable Nanoprocessor Takes Complex Circuitry to the Nanoscale.” Popular Science, 9 Feb. 2011, www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-02/worlds-first-programmable-nanoprocessor-takes-complex-circuitry-nanoscale.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. “The Nanoneme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact and Fiction in the Construction of a New Science.” Technoetic Arts, vol. 1, no. 1, 2003, pp. 7–24., doi:10.1386/tear.1.1.7/0.

John Curtin Gallery. “Art in the Age of Nanotechnology.” Art.Base, 2010, art.base.co/event/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology#5.

Rothemund, Paul. “Transcript of ‘DNA Folding, in Detail.’” TED, Feb. 2008, www.ted.com/talks/paul_rothemund_details_dna_folding/transcript#t-194718.