Grab your magnifying glass because “Microsculpture: The Insect Portraits of Levon Biss” is coming to a museum near you. The pictures created by renowned photographer Levon Biss were first published in 2017. This book-turned-exhibit has traveled worldwide from museums such as the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and has now found a home at the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU).
Art Meets Science
This exhibit not only scientifically bellows curiosity, but also artistically opens the imagination. At the TED 2017 conference, Biss spoke about “Microsculpture.”
“Despite the extraordinary things I was shooting and experiencing, they’d started to feel a little bit ordinary to me. I was also getting concerned about how disposable photography had started to feel in the digital world,” Biss said. “And I really wanted to produce images that had a sense of worth again.”
This new perspective Biss created for himself has certainly changed the way we view these magnificent creatures. The detailing is sharp and excitable; it is very apparent to the eye how much thought and precision went into the making of these sculptures.
Creating these sculptures takes a camera, a microscope and a trained eye. Luckily for Biss, he had access to all three of these and pushed the limits for what could be done.
More Than Just “A Bug’s Life”
“Each image on display in ‘Microsculpture’ took about four weeks to create and was created from over 8,000 separate images taken using microscope lenses. The photographs are printed in large-scale formats, with insects that are millimeters long being presented at up to nine feet tall,” the Natural History Museum of Utah explains in the exhibit. The time commitment alone is very inspiring to all art enthusiasts. All ages, as described by Biss, have shown much appreciation for this exhibit; especially those of younger minds.
As you walk into the exhibit, you’ll be met with complete darkness which defines the color and texture of these large bugs. This was a great choice on the museum’s part, it was an immersive experience as there was also a luring sound of crickets and other bugs chirping all around. These two additions to the already phenomenal museum of bugs capture the whole picture.
As described by the museum’s staff, “ … It allows people to discover intricate anatomical features that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye.” This is how art meets science. The exhibit provides an informational breakdown as you walk along the path. These include descriptions of the timeline and how each bug is essential to the ecosystem, in hopes of creating a space to turn feelings of fear down and those of curiosity up.
Picture Perfect
Within this atmosphere, there is a section where attendees can view bugs up close through a microscope themselves and see these designs through a new lens. While in this room, there’s a reading section that provides his book, “Microsculpture: Portraits of Insects.” This book entertains a deeper cut into the pictures hung across the walls.
The exhibit can be found on the third floor of the museum. Students, when provided a Ucard, can enter for free. “Microsculpture” is open to the public now until Sept. 15.
