NANOTECHNOLOGY may be one of the more exciting developments in science but it isn’t something you can play around with on your home chemistry set.

Now a group of artists and scientists are trying to make nanotechnology more accessible to the public with an exhibition and symposium designed to explore different aspects and challenge perceptions about the science.

This Thursday sees the opening of Art in the Age of Nanotechnology at the John Curtin Gallery / Image: Courtesy John Curtin Gallery

Called Art in the Age of Nanotechnology, the exhibition and symposium are jointly hosted by the John Curtin Gallery and Curtin University’s Centre for Research in Art, Science and Technology.

The centre, operating out of the School of Design and Art, already draws together artists and scientists on different projects and the exhibition and symposium have attracted leading researchers and artists in the two fields from around the world.

The keynote speaker is Colin Milburn, an associate professor of English who trained as a microbiologist and is interested in the ways that laboratory research influences and is influenced by popular media.

The accompanying exhibition will feature works by scientists and artists from France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Austria, as well as local works.

John Curtin Gallery director Chris Malcolm says the connection between art and science has a good historical basis and it is natural that as new discoveries are made in areas such as nanotechnology, that artists will want to explore the thinking.

“The parallels between artists and scientists are very striking,” he says.

“They really operate in the same headspace. Collaborative projects like this are enlightening because science will provide artists with ideas about new ways of seeing things or thinking about things and artists can provide new ways for science to think about things.”

He says the exhibition will also demystify some aspects of nanotechnology for the general public.

“The exhibition as a whole is about exploring what nanotechnology promises and the social implications of how ubiquitous it will become as a practice,” he says.

“There is a lot of public misconception about what nanotechnology is, a lot of fear and a lot of concern about the negative aspects. This lets you talk about it in a different way.”

The exhibition will be open at the John Curtin Gallery from February 5 until April 30, 2010. The symposium will run on February 7, from 9.45am at Curtin University’s Bank West Lecture Theatre. Admission is free to both events.

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