Beautiful Pathogens Installations
These columns were on display at Vestfossen Art Laboratory 9th- 24th October 2021, in connection with NFUK's Annual exhibition. They were given their own small room, where they could stand alone in the dark.
For the whole Beautiful Pathogens range of images, see here.
As demonstrated at the Vestfossen Art Laboratory, this installation also works fine in a gallery, in a corner away from the direct spotlights. If you would be interested in having them on display, or purchasing them, contact rowen@birchtreeroad.com
Panels for the installations
Credits
Panel 1: Cytalomegalo virus/boneThe cytomegalovirus, which belongs to the herpesviridae family, was extracted from an illustration by Kateryna Kon(Shutterstock). It is a DNA virus, and has an unusually large genome for a virus. It mostly infects immune deficient people - a real pest in hospitals, particularly after transplants. Here I have placed the virus in a web of bone tissue - a SEM from Power and Dyred.
Panel 2: Chicken pox virus/soap film. The chicken pox virus (varicella zoster) was extracted from an illustration by Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock. I have also used Hepatit C viruses in this panel, from the same source. The background is created from a polarised light picture of a soap film by Minato-ku Kohnan of Tokyo Metropolitan University.
Panel 3: Legionella/ice crystals: Legionella bacteria are windborne bacteria, often thriving in water towers. They cause a variety of illnesses, mostly in people with decreased immunity. This version was extracted from an illustration by Kateryna Kon(Shutterstock). The landscape is created from ice on the car window - the original picture came from Charles Patey.
Panel 4: Shigella bacteria/ice crystals: This picture is created from ice crystals, shigella and salps. The Shigella bacteria are my own rendering on the basis of a series of SEMs found from different sources. Shigella are typical "food poisoning" bacteria, causing serious intestinal infections. Salps are large jelly-like tunicates living in the ocean. They create huge colonies, sometimes formed like balls, like the ones in this picture, sometimes like chains up to several kilometers long. The picture was downloaded from the Ethogram website, the blog of the UC Davis Animal Behavior Graduate Group. The ice crystals were formed on freezing soap bubbles, photographed by Angela Kelly.
Panel 5: Covid viruses/brain synapses: The Covid viruses are extracted from an image by Keith Chambers, licenced from Science Photo Library.
Panel 6: HIV virus/arachnid book lungs: The HIV viruses are adapted from a SEM, downloaded from Clinical Medicine and Research with permission. The chain is created from an electron micrograph of arachnid book lungs by Dr. Carsten Kamanz at the American Museum of Natural History. Book lungs are special lungs, formed like the leaves of books, common in spiders and scorpions.
Panel 7: Hepatit C virus and neurons: The hepatit C virus is from an illustration by Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library. The background is formed from a SEM of neurons I am still trying to identify
Panel 8: Pseudomonas/sporangium: P. aeruginosa the pseudomonas bacteria here, cause multi-resistant hospital-acquired infections, including pneumonia, osteomyelitis, peritonitis and wound infections. They are from an illustration by Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library. The background here is a SEM (scanning electron micrograph) of sporangium - the fruiting bodies inside the gills of mushrooms. The lianas are created from a network of blood vessels inside the cornea of the eye.
Panel 9: Mononucleosis (Epstein Barr virus) The Epstein Barr virus, belonging to the herpes family, is one of the most common viruses in the world. Children go mostly sympton free, while adults can experience everything from light flu to long lasting fatigue. This version was extracted from an illustration by Kateryna Kon (Shutterstock). The landscape is created from the underside of a pore mushroom picked in the local forests.
Panel 10: Rubella virus (german measles) Here I have combined a microbiologist Katarina Kon's illustration of a rubella (german measles) virus(Shutterstock), with a photograph taken of ice crystals in mud, taken in our garden.
Panel 11: Tetanus viruses/surface of a diatom: I downloaded a SEM of a Tetanus bacteria with permission from the US Center for Disease and Control. The background is a SEM (scanning electron micrograph) of the surface of a diatom, downloaded from the Eye of Science under licence. Diatoms are phytoplanktons - single-celled creatures, which, together with dinoflagellates, cause phosphorecence on the ocean at night. Although single-celled they have a covering of silicates that create the amazing and beautiful patterns we see on their surfaces.
Panel 12: Salmonella/nerve cells: Here I have combined SEMs of serotonin producing nerve cells created by ktsDesign/Shutterstock, with SEMS of salmonella and streptocci.
