NanoInnovation: What Every Manager Needs to Know

5Where Nanoscience Becomes Nanoart

It is good to understand that art, science and technology are not separate. Then we are able to learn from each other.

– Hugh McGrory, Filmmaker, from a 2008 Interview by Nanotechnology Now

Many nanoinnovations come from the world of art and design, and this is appropriate considering that much of nanotechnology involves the design of new materials and devices. The connection between nanoinnovation and nanoart is impressive. Nanoart has been used to vividly illustrate how nanostructures can be manipulated with extreme precision. For many researchers, an artistic representation was the first proof of concept of their work. For others, a work of art or artistic pattern provided the inspiration for a scientific achievement.

Don Eigler created an IBM logo from 35 xenon atoms – something familiar and artistic, yet something that had never been done before. Ned Seeman drew his inspiration for a critical breakthrough in DNA nanotechnology from a woodcut by the Dutch artist Mauritz Cornelis Escher. One of Paul Rothemund's first examples of DNA origami was a happy face. The term “DNA origami” took its name from a Japanese art form. A. John Hart used his Nanobliss nanoart Web site to illustrate how a forest of carbon nanotubes could be turned into the first nanoscale portrait of a US president. Neri Oxman, who is both a designer/architect and materials scientist, has shown how elegant nanoforms can be engineered into practical nanofunctions, from construction ...