Week 8 : NanoTech & Art

This week’s topic of Nanotechnology and its relation to art has been the hardest topic for me to understand so far. Through watching the lectures and reading the provided links I still had a hard time thinking about how I can better understand it, so I looked up a general definition which stated, “Nanotechnology- the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, an supramolecular scale.” What made is click for me was the manipulation of matter part of the definition, this is how artists use nanotechnology in their work, like Prof Vesna said in an article I read, "This new science is about a shift in our perception of reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity".

I thought that the use of nanotechnology in food was really interesting in the ways they used it and the controversies behind it. What interested me the most was their ways of changing food characteristics using nanotechnology. By using nanoparticles its possible to provide vitamins and nutrients in food and beverages without changing the taste of the food or appearance, by doing this it is actually more beneficial because it goes into the bloodstream. Another concept similar to this that I thought was really interesting is what Dr. Gimzewski talked about in lecture 6 about the “Slim Shake Chocolate,” a low calories drink that uses nanoparticles for flavoring to keep the calories down. Instead of using real flavor of cocoa and sugar the product uses the silica nanoparticles and coat those with flavor, so you think that you’re drinking a chocolate shake but really you’re just tasting the coating on those nanoparticles, keeping it low calories. Although there is a lot of controversy and little research on whether it’s actually okay for you, its opening up a whole new window in diet foods which we may see in the future.

There is little really understood about nanotechnology, but it sure has impacted many fields and I expect to see it and develop more in fields eventually changing things as we know it.

"Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

"Nanotechnology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

"Nanotechnology in the Food Industry." Nanotechnology in the Food Industry. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

"The Art of Nanotech." Bits The Art of Nanotech Comments. N.p., 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 24 May 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. Nanotechnology and Art. Lecture. Video