Do You See the Same Thing as Me? And Now?

An Interview with Illustrator and Artist Zac Lowing
Click on any picture to gigantisize

Part 1 of 2 (link to Part 2)

I’ve discussed before in this forum ‘what it takes’ to get selected during whatever process it is that I use to pick out an artist or designer to interview, besides random happenstance or more often than not just plain dumb luck. Of course, that an artist has an obvious level of talent and skill is a must, as is both a sense of uniqueness and the ability to catch one’s eye in the sea of incredible offerings the world over.

However, in the case of today’s guest, Zac Lowing, it goes one step beyond that. You see, my interaction with Zac and his work has become part of my daily routine. And just as I can’t really start my day without my requisite morning coffee(s) spruced up with brewed-in chocolate flavouring (I am weak, I confess), a glance at the world’s news headlines and a read-through my must-have funnies (‘Non Sequitur’ and ‘Over the Hedge’ to start), I also stop by Zac’s ‘place’ to take in his latest creation.

Zac himself is a nice fellow with a good sense of humour, someone you enjoy getting a chance to chat with on a regular basis. He is also deeply contemplative about things in our universe around us, from topics such as the details of travelling through blackhole event horizons to improving the common combustion engine. In addition, I find him to be quite sensitive to – and grateful for – his fans’ input. And I truly enjoy the interaction with the others on his Facebook fan list, as we routinely take turns reflecting on ‘what we see’ in each picture. Each day it’s as if we meet in our own little private gallery (in my mind they also serve doughnuts) and have a good glance at the newest portrait hanging there in the hall, stepping back to view it at different angles and at different sizes as well. One viewer may be attracted to the mysterious face in a field of yellow, whereas the next may see something completely different in the background, hidden in sea-greens, Aztec blues and more! Another may be trying to press their back against the farthest wall possible to get a unique view and yet someone else may be focusing on one point with their face nice and scrunched up in appreciative concentration!

I think that one of my main targets of this interview is to introduce each reader to this as well, this experience that I enjoy so much. Sure, I want to specifically have you get to know Zac and his talents, but at the same time I want to invite you to play the little game ‘do you see what I see?’ You’ll see throughout this blog update that I have included some pictures at very small size with the intention of sharing the equally small ‘blurb’ of a picture that typically comes with that first viewing experience via a Facebook or other web-page icon. But before you ‘embiggen’ these pictures, look at the small versions carefully. What do you see? Now, click to see a larger version and see what more you can find in these amazing miniature scenes and alternate universes that Zac has so cleverly provided. Do you still see the same thing? Or has perhaps that silky smooth picture of a graceful flow of water turned into the face of an angry demon god? Or a butterfly? It’s your call!

And so fans, without further ado, from one Z to another, I am very pleased to introduce Zac Lowing:

ziggynixonziggynixonziggynixon

Hi Zac, welcome to the show. Without already jumping into the deep end of your pool of art (oh, what a terrible metaphor), can you tell us a little about Zac Lowing please?
Hi Ziggy, thanks for the invitation!

Well, I love innovation. When I read an article on how somebody has come up with a new device or invention, it is almost as exciting to me as a good pass in football would be to a sports fanatic. Some people like solving crossword puzzles to exercise their minds; well, I like solving mechanical problems. And as the computer is a tool, I naturally love finding ways of using it to bring about an innovation of vision.

Oh, lol, maybe you meant the basics about me! Well, I was born in 1963. I’m 6'2 and weigh 240 lbs., have blue eyes and had blonde hair until I shaved it all off. I come from Polish/German roots and was born on the cusp between Aquarius and Pisces. I have a combination or habit if you will of stubborn determination, depression and elation when it comes to figuring out problems.

Your own biographical descriptive mentions that you are a self-taught artist and that you are addicted to making your CGI art. First, have you had ANY kind of artistic training? If yes, how much did it help (or even hinder) what you’re working on now?
Ha, in High School, I had an art teacher that always got frustrated with me when I didn't do it her way! So I never got good grades in her class – or in most other classes either to be honest.

My first ‘art-form’ really was building things with Lego blocks. During a period of my life when I was living with a girl that was studying to be a nurse, I dug my old box of them out and goofed around a bit to pass the time. It occurred to me somewhere along the line that since I was now an adult, I could buy more! So, I started building really massive ‘sculptures’ with these amazing little coloured plastic bricks!

One of my original big Lego spaceships, the Pangea, was about 2½ feet long. The problem was that it cracked in half when I tried to lift it up. After figuring out the structural limits and various ways of weaving the bricks together to increase the strength, I made a series of ever larger and more complicated ones. The last one I made I still have stored away in two crates I custom-made to hold it in. When assembled, this model – the spaceship Dynonochus (shown above) – is nearly 7 feet long, 2½ feet wide at the back, and weighs approximately 50 pounds! It’s funny because the few times I've shown it, the adults seem to like it more than kids! (ZN: according to Zac, this 2nd ‘rear’ view shows 144 Christmas tree lights in the engines which were set at variable speeds for strobe lighting!)

Sorry about the wandering there, back to my training. Let's see, in High School I took a computer class (Apple2 with 48k memory! Woohoo!) and did some cool artwork using basic and random number generators to make bright lines ricochet around the screen. I went to college to do more along those lines but got frustrated when we where expected to learn machine language first. I just wanted to use the programs to make stuff!! This to me was like having to learn how to mine iron from the Earth before you become a race car driver.

It wasn't until years later that I came across the Paint program on a buddy’s computer that the drive to do cool stuff sparked again. I did take a class on learning the basics of Photoshop and a class on advertising – which is difficult to do when you’re still learning and stumbling around with Photoshop.

There was one class I found interesting on Fonts. In part of the class, we had to draw a few letters with serifs and what not. I had never really looked that close at all the individual ‘squiggles’ that make up letters when I read. So to take a few hours to get one simple letter right was like the difference between flying over a town and walking through it. You see a lot more that you would have missed otherwise!

How long does it take to make a 7 foot long / 12’000 brick spaceship?
The big one, Dynonochus, took over a month. I kept a written and video diary during the building of it. It’s funny, but I made a couple of dozens copies of the video and sent them out all over the place, even giving one to the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago. It was eventually shown in Paris as an example of a documentary by an old friend of mine that lives in New York.

Did you ever try to sell these various models after you were done (obviously not including the one you smashed)?
I wanted to sell them, you know like by setting up a company to market them to rich folks for their kids. I mean, how many boxes of bricks can you buy them for Christmas if you’re a millionaire? Well, I say, why not go ahead and buy them a giant, pre-built Lego spaceship while you’re at it! I even started a group on the web for making only big spaceships, so if that company idea takes off, I know where to hire a bunch of Lego artists quickly!

OK I’ve got to ask the obvious: do you see any parallels between working with your CGI-based art and your LEGO sculpturing?
Just that when I was a kid, I loved Sci-Fi... I couldn't get enough! To be able to build spaceships, touch them in your hands, was a childhood dream that I didn't know could come true.

In terms of transition, early on with my CGI artwork, I did illustrate a bunch of spaceships and other Sci-Fi based stuff. It was such a lot of fun! But it was also a lot of work. The computers back then would bog down with what I wanted to do. At times, I would have to set something up to render, go to sleep, waiting to see if I had aligned things right the next morning.

In terms of the abstracts, I started doing them almost by accident. Heck, it wasn't until the girl that was doing a web page for me told me she liked my ‘abstracts’ that I knew they even had a name! I was like, wow, is that what they are?

How did your interest in doing CGI artwork (for lack of a better term) originate? Were there any particular other artists or specific genres that interested you the most?
As near as I can tell, my interest in doing stuff like I do now was from a paint bucket. You see, back before they had paint-can shakers to mix the oils and pigments together, you had to stir paint to get everything homogenous. That duty fell to me as a kid. Churning the thick stuff around, I'd see cool swirls of vivid colours and get lost in them. OK, the fumes might have enhanced the effects but still...

As a child, I suppose I never looked at art too deeply. I've never been a student of art history beyond recently buying a book at a second-hand store. If I had to choose, I’d say I lean more towards the Impressionists rather than someone like Picasso. In a lot of ways, I look at art styles like food and to me it’s a question of which would you rather eat? Something like that anyway.

Still, I had been doing my CGI stuff for a few years when I came across Chihuly. I was stunned by the vibrant shape, colour and curve of his glassworks. He had a showing at a what I remember was a greenhouse just outside of Chicago that I went to twice. While most of the plantings where lush old growth framed by the flat steel structure of the 100 year-old building, the room that held me the longest was a desert setting. Amongst a hill of cacti, Chihuly had arranged spears of purple and Mauve glass pointing upwards a good 6 feet. I was mesmerised.

Now I could get all deep and say how the juxtaposition of the smooth glass to the pointy pieces and how the green complimenting the colours from the other end of the spectrum and all that inspired me, but that wasn’t what I was feeling. It was more like ice tea on a boiling hot day, only in this case it was cool refreshment for my eyes. I found myself staring into the clump which seemed to be pull all my tensions out gently, soothing my soul in the process.

You’ve also mentioned the ‘symbiotic relationship’ that you seem to establish with the computer in your work. Can you explain that please?
Yes, it is symbiotic to me – or perhaps even to me more of a 7th sense.

By symbiotic, I am referring to that dependence between myself and the computer (and the programs in it) and how we rely upon each other to sustain a note of creativity. The program I use wasn't originally designed to do what I am doing with it. And at times it shows me things I would have never thought of otherwise.

For me it’s like imagining standing at the peak of a mountain. You can pour water down the mountain side, controlling how much water you use and in which direction you pour it. But as it flows and hits things along the way, it naturally changes it's course. Or perhaps it’s like riding a horse: you can get it to gallop but if you ride through the woods with it, IT chooses where to turn to avoid the trees. If the horse turns left, you might come to a cliff edge; if it turns right, you might see a magnificent sunset. To complete my analogy, I feel as if I feed this horse and it takes me places. I groom it's programs and it runs better, plus I adjust the saddle and reins for a better interface. And I like to think that at times I even adjust it's ‘shoes’, which to me is a reference to the added cooling efficiencies that I have implemented myself!

On the other hand, for me it’s also like a new sense, a 7th sense. Here I am referring to my connection with the computer and even more so with the connection to the global Internet as a whole. Just imagine: 100 years ago, it would have taken months to get a message from the US to Australia, and many more to get even a basic reply back. Now we think nothing of having a ‘chat’ in real time at those distances, sharing video, files and much much more.

For example, I realised early on I could tell how an on-line friend was feeling by how long it took them to reply or from the composition of our conversation. That is a connection unlike any mankind has had in the past. We can also view far-away places live via web-cams and hear music from every culture at the touch of only a few buttons! If I have a question, I can access the sum of man’s knowledge and even learn unfiltered wisdom, not just what the general consensus is!

I guess you could argue that the voice is the 6th sense in that we send out vocal vibrations and get a picture of what others think. It’s kind of like how a bat’s echo gives him a vision of his location. I learned this first hand after getting an operation for nasal polyps that made it hard to talk for a few days. So yes, the computer has become a new sense that combines vision, hearing and thought to perceive the world in new ways.

Continued in Part 2

Do You See the Same Thing as Me? And Now?

An Interview with Illustrator and Artist Zac Lowing
Click on any picture to zoomiginate

Part 2 of 2 (link to Part 1)

Zac, where do you get your ideas? You have so many different styles, certainly more than I can do justice to (for?) in terms of the selection in this article. Is there a sort of random (e-)doodling that you’re doing or is there always (sometimes?) a very distinct rhyme and reason to – especially, but not exclusively – one of your more abstract pieces?
I admire tattoo artwork. But to be honest, I think it looses something when it's put on skin (lol, a lot of people aren't going to like that thought!). I watch 'LA Ink' on television and see them do some incredible drawings that are masterpieces in themselves – only to have them be put away in some folder while a 'copy' is put on a rough, variously shaped canvass (e.g. someone’s body) that is normally moving around and hard to really take in. I mean, how many times is a person going to stand still so people can really appreciate the tattoo? Maybe someone could do a show with people arranged like paintings, perhaps a wall mounted brace to hold the tattoo still for viewing, ha ha ha.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I like to do tattoo inspired stuff that you can admire without feeling embarrassed in staring at a person’s arm (or other body part!). The Tribal stuff is so cool with the strong curves, points and branching to which I add colour and depth. Symmetry also fascinates me in how it creates shapes and lattices I would never have thought of otherwise.

Is there rhyme or reason to my designs? Well, once in a blue moon, my subconscious picks things out that symbolise the turmoil I feel I am going through at a particular time pretty well. For instance, when we found out my dad had cancer, I started doing a lot with red. I did one piece which had this curve of energy and movement in the upper left and a cragged mass on the lower right that I called 'Incoming Reality’.

Most of my stuff though is just me relaxing and letting go. I enjoy setting up a world that I can then explore and send post cards from where I've been to people out there.

How does the approach for one of these pieces compare to say, a picture featuring a futuristic or even utopian cityscape or other ‘recognisable’ object?
Again, early on I did a lot of Sci-Fi stuff, spaceships, a city called Zberg, etc. These could take me days to complete and would bog down the computer like you wouldn't believe. I'd spend a few hours trying to get the right view, rendering small sections and then letting the whole scene render for a few hours only to find a dull section blocking a cool part.

I might go back to doing some of that once I get a fast enough system. Still, the abstracts can be more fun and still be Sci-Fi if you consider how alien they look at times. I can well imagine them up on the walls of the inhabitants of some distant exo-planet.

How are you getting your art ‘out there’? Have you participated in gallery or other public shows?
I've had some stuff put up in a coffee shop and have exhibited at a few Sci-Fi conventions and at one stray show in Chicago. Still, my art doesn't seem to fit the formula for what people call ‘modern’ art. Sometimes I think, ‘hey, I could do variations on squares of flat colour!’ Actually, I did this once as a joke, which was a series of variations from squares, circles etc. until the last one, which I called doughnutism, ha ha. Or maybe I should go for the shock value, making a statement about religion or politics! But for me that would be too easy and contrived.

I just think some things can't be forced, they have to come to you. Take the song 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd (ZN: perhaps one of the three best songs EVER written by anyone... just in case you’re curious). I have it on my iPod, but I never choose to play it. Still, it seems to come to me at the right time, be it on the radio or someone else picking to play it. It means so much to me, that song; but I just feel like if I play it ‘on purpose’ that it would be some kind of perverse violation, you know, to ‘make’ the song sing for me.

So, I do what I want, not what the establishment – aka the galleries – want I suppose. Or at least what I perceive they want.

How about the Internet? Where can the general public best find your latest offerings, e.g. via social platforms or blogs or how?
For now, I am only on the web, MySpace and Facebook. I tried out dozens of art pages and even a blog, but I just felt that I wasn’t getting enough traffic to justify the effort. And with all that is out there, I just felt it became a waste of time for me.

I mean, I've sold some stuff, both online and off. Still, to push it more, I think I might need a manager or something... I'm not the best salesman, lol.

On the other hand, on Facebook I have people from all over the world who ‘stop by’ to look at the pictures. I can really interact with them and I am happy with that. I guess in a lot of ways I feel that right now I’m just like a garage band with a few loyal followers. But who knows, some day... some day.

Tell us why you consider your art to be your ‘addiction’?
I have an addictive personality – which used to lead to things that where no good for me. Let's just say I remember the first 5 minutes of a lot of parties and leave it at that.

Over the years I've tried to focus my obsessions in better directions, which obviously includes my art. There is a certain opiate quality to knowing you've made a person thousands of miles away smile for a bit.

At least from your Facebook updates, you really do seem to put out an incredible ‘volume’ of high-quality works!! Why is that do you think – not that they’re such good quality but why or better said how are you able to produce such a large amount of work?
Thanks! Well, like anything, it comes down to time and resources. I have so much I want to do, so many ideas and inventions, even more than what you see; but right now I lack the time or resources to accomplish everything. Still, I've always been a mechanic and I don't put up with crap long. Some people see something not working right and use a band-aid approach. I take a little longer to find the root cause, to either strengthen the weak link, or lessen the stress on it.

And yes, there is also that drive that I get when I am shopping for food and realise I can't buy some stuff because my refrigerator hasn't worked in over a year! Starving artist, what else do you want me to say? Ha ha.

And time... well, I wish sometimes that I didn't have to sleep. There is just so much I want to do. So I do as much as I can in the time that I can afford! And again, it is really my way of escaping, of letting the stress of life just flow out of my body and into my work.

I also wanted to get a chance to feel out a bit more why you’ve said:
I don’t do art that makes you ’think’... no, I don’t drag you through my nightmares either; we all have enough of those. I’d rather take you away for a while... if I can get you to say ’cool’, I have succeeded in my mission.
Why is that? And are you really referring more to your audience or yourself?
I didn't set out with that in mind, it’s just what I have realised is all. So many artists want to express themselves, and if you think about that, it's all a bit selfish isn’t it? (Oh boy, they're gonna hate me now, LOL.) I mean, I'd rather be the movie that makes you feel good than the dry documentary that tells you how much the world sucks, sure! I'm not looking down on anyone when I say this, it's just to me like saying my favourite colour is blue, while others like brown.

A deeper reason I do so much art is the fantasy of digging myself out of the hole I'm feel like I’m in. Sometimes I don't want to think about ‘things’ and at times it's all I can do... my art that is. It's like each new piece is another log on a fire, where the fire is my signal fire on a deserted beach and I’m hoping a passing ship will see it. All those happy people on that cruise ship, dancing, eating, feeling great. Oh man, wouldn’t it be great if they just by happenstance noticed the fire?

Other times it's like watching a jet in the sky fly by, thousands of feet high with no chance of seeing my little fire. So I don't even bother to light it. This for me is like knowing that I have so many pieces I've never shown. Sometimes I feel like I am in denial of thought, thinking there is something bigger than me that I must do. I should be building a raft with all those logs, but a raft won't survive the wave... it's the ship I need. Have you ever felt like your building a bridge to somewhere, and it keeps arching out longer and longer? It's made of dreams and hopes, wishes and the way it should have gone. And now it's swaying, giving me vertigo. So I keep looking away from the abyss, reaching for another log for the fire.

Wow I hate to get back to ‘basics’ after that but I have to ask: What software and/or hardware are you currently using? Did I see correctly as well that you’ve had to at least modify the latter to avoid, shall we say, ‘significant overheating’ of your computing unit?
Well, I use Photoshop for some basic stuff, but my main software is a relatively inexpensive 3D program I use.

It reminds me of a story my dad once told me: when he was a kid, they would throw rocks at the engineer of a train so he would get mad and throw chunks of coal back at them they could draw with. Years later when I was taking a class at a local college to learn the basics of Photoshop, I met a Chinese lady that did amazing artwork with just charcoal! So fluid and easy for her from the years in the old country where all she had was coal.

These stories taught me that while you might have to find the right medium, it's the persistence of the vision that matters. Sure, I've told people what program I use. And they rush out and buy it, only to give up on it almost immediately. I mean, just because you buy a plane, doesn't mean you can fly it.

And yes, definitely, in the years of learning how to use a computer, I have crashed it a bunch of times. I mean, if you must know, right now I have an HP laptop running Windows 7. While most artists use Macs, as far as I am concerned, once you are in a program, it runs just about the same on either platform.

One simple engineering fact that you can not overlook though is that computers run hot when they are left on at full bore for days on end; so I figured out how to keep mine running cooler. I've also done some ‘over-clocking’ on it, going from a dual core running at 2.2 MHz to 2.4 (cutting the time of one of my bench marks from 9 to 7.5 minutes), which really adds up on the longer renderings I do! For me, improving the cooling was like I was hot-rodding a car!

You should see it: there is a heat sink sticking out of the bottom of my laptop now and a rather large ducted fan blowing on it. I made a base for it all that fits onto the arms of my chair that encloses it all and tilts the keyboard towards me. I tried so many different fans (I even used a full sized window fan) and all kinds of manner of ducting the air to the dozens of different heat sinks I made. I'll post the pictures some day.

Zac, I read an input your provided on Facebook about ‘Extra Communication Perception’, which I thought was a really fascinating concept. Can you explain to us what is this ‘ECP’?
ECP is a realisation of all that the computer and the Internet has brought us. Remember in the movie 'The Matrix' where Neo asked why do his eyes hurt and Morpheus says, "Because you've never used them before"? Right now, there are millions of conversations going on around the world through the net, people relating how their day went, things they've seen and done. Before the Wouter (I just coined that, computer/web combined, lol), this was impossible. ECP is simply the hearing aid we never had before.

Zac, perhaps this is TOO personal, but does your art manage to support you financially at this time? Is that even your target?
I wish it supported me!! Show me the artist that who wouldn't love to have that freedom!

How does Zac Lowing view his future in the arts? Put differently: where do you want to or intend to go with this?
I mentioned earlier being the garage band. Well, someday I hope to be Aerosmith! So I'll keep on rocking, 'cause it's a long, way to the top, if you wanna rock and roll!

Finally, what is something about Zac Lowing that you could tell us that no one else knows and that will hopefully not get you arrested, deported, or be made to vote for Sarah Palin in 2012?
My life isn't as cool as I have let on. Sure, there might be some interesting chapters, it's the other ones I don't necessarily want to re-address.

Heh, it's a hard question Zig... most of my secrets are the same as anyone else’s. I do have a thing for people that do things for a higher purpose. For example, I once read about a group of Japanese guys that climbing a mountain that had never been climbed before. About 50 feet from the top, they stopped. They all decided to honour the mountain by not violating the peak.

Most people don't get that. I do ... and it gives me chills.

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Zac’s work can be found via various Internet links (see below) as well as by becoming a ‘friend’ on Facebook of his rather innocent sounding ‘alias’. You are cordially invited to come play the ‘do you see what I see’ game and in general have your mind blown away on a daily basis.

For more, please see these links. Enjoy!

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/zac-lowing.html?tab=artwork

http://www.myspace.com/zvr/photos (be sure and check out all the various folders!)

The famous 'crashing spaceship' video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRBkqR1a3oc (it pains me to watch!!)

http://www.angelfire.com/il2/zvr/ (a plethora of different offerings [really, count them!!])

or join so many of Zac’s fans regularly at his active Facebook page under ‘Joe Smith’ at
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100001427029265
(there are some other ‘remnants’ on Facebook but good luck getting them to pop up if you search under Zac Lowing... remember, fans ‘Facebook: you get what you pay for!!’)


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All pictures, videos and other media are used with written permission of Zac Lowing or are available in the public domain (noting copyright and other restrictions, accordingly). No further reproduction or duplication is permitted without contacting the artist directly.

Some pictures have been modified slightly or combined only for the purpose of space limitations.

Designs Unseen – "Micronaut" Martin Oeggerli

This is the full version of an article printed first via www.xymara.com at this link.

All pictures and images full copyright of Martin Oeggerli, used by special licensed permission.

Very rarely when doing research about a given artist or designer are you going to come across statements next to their names along the lines of "E2F3 is the main target gene of the 6p22 amplicon with high specificity for human bladder cancer." But this is in fact indeed part of "micronaut" Martin Oeggerli's world. Splitting his time between his "day job" doing extremely valuable cancer research at the University of Basel's Pathology department and his passion for photographing the "micro-cosmos" around us, Martin is living his dreams.

Using a technique involving the utilization of extremely delicate and highly sophisticated scanning electron microscopes (SEM) to just even begin his process, he has developed over the past years an amazing portfolio of the "seen and unseen" in our world. And to meet Martin is to experience firsthand just how passionate he truly is about his work. Whether its excitedly describing the differences in the quality of hairs of "cute" jumping spiders or contemplating the small and somewhat mysterious objects hiding between a butterfly's scaly winglets, Martin not only brings his work to life through the images he creates but makes you really look at the world around you in a new light.

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Martin prior to the opening of an important new show of his work:

Martin, please explain how you got interested in photography and design?

For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in beautiful images. Also, when I was younger I did a lot of drawing, illustrating very detailed and accurate pictures of different things.

My current style of work started when my father gave me my first camera in 2004. I think I made 20'000 pictures in the first few months alone because I had just such a great time with it. The camera was very functional and allowed me to focus on all sizes of views. You could also rotate the zoom lens pretty easily and get really comfortably close to just about anything.

A few months later, I was asked to do display some of my work at the Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Basel because at that time and until very recently we had always artist exhibitions several times per year. You see, we have a full-time photographer at the Institute and he really liked my portfolio. So he encouraged me to display my work, which was terrific because usually the show was reserved for "real" artists from all over Europe. This was not only surprising but actually very successful for me and got me my first "exposure".

I "switched" to the Scanning Electron Microscope or SEM (REM in German) in 2005 (I of course still enjoy normal photography). This started literally the day after I finished my thesis. You see there was a company here in the area that really needed some technical support. They wanted several large color SEM pictures, but of course SEM only provides black and white pictures.

Still, they knew I had a science background and was also interested in photography, so they thought maybe I could support them in generating some nice colored SEM pictures. So the minute I successfully closed out my PhD studies in molecular biology, I started both with them and also with my post-doc here in Basel.

Had you worked with SEM techniques before that?

Only once during my diploma work. My research was about bats and specifically their hair structures. So that was my first experience with SEM imaging.

When we started the project though, several pictures had to be finished quickly because they had an important project to complete. So it was very much "learning by doing". But despite the urgency, I found I liked it so much that I found myself really addicted to this method.

So I kept making more pictures and really tried to improve my work. I also definitely have to add that it would have not been possible for the support that the University of Basel (ZMB) gave me at that time, for which I'm still very grateful.

As you indicated, SEM generates only "black and white" pictures, obviously with many shades of grey. How do you ultimately then convert these to make colored pictures?

When I was asked to do color SEM's, my initial task was to explain that all we would get from the instrument were black and white pictures. I had to make it clear that any coloration would have to literally be made by hand.

In these first cases, we were under such tremendous time pressure that I didn't have the opportunity to learn coloration methods like a typical graphic designer might use. I just had to basically jump in and rush the project through, but it did allow me to develop a very unique method that I was glad worked quite well.

I've seen you don't like to give out details to your exact method.

That's right, I like to keep this my "little secret." Really though, anyone could do this I think. But it is of course an advantage to be familiar with biology and also it does take an incredible amount of patience. I think that's where my design talent is really helped a lot, in that I am a very patient person. Also I'm really quite a perfectionist, so having patience is a must.

I've heard that one design can take up to 100 hours to complete?

Yes, sometimes when I combine several scans that have views of different "areas" of a subject, that is to make a larger "landscape" view, the coloration can be an incredibly detailed task. Basically, the more details I want to illustrate, the longer the process takes.

But I try to find time wherever I can to work a little, even on the tram on the way to work or the train ride down a little south of here on my way to the SEM lab.

Your father is also interested in photography. Why did he wait so long to give you a camera?

Well, my father does enjoy photography and although he's very good, he only considers it his hobby. In terms of giving me – and my sister – a good camera, I think he really wanted to wait until the digital technology reached a point where I could really benefit from it.

It worked out really well though because with digital you have such freedom and you can learn very quickly by trial-and-error. I was able to not only experiment a lot and try different things in a relatively short amount of time but at much lower costs than with "traditional" film-based photography.

You say its beneficial for your design that you are "well-versed" in a number of scientific areas. I want to list these for our audience, because I understand this includes studies in marine biology, zoology, botany, anthropology, paleontology, as well as behavioral and evolutionary biology, all of which has lead eventually to your role as "investigator" of molecular and cell biology.

Okay, with this amazing resume in mind, is the reverse true, namely, does being a "micronaut" help your work at the University?

Oh yes. At the moment, for example, I'm working on a project looking at prostrate cancer and particularly in those cases where it returns even after initially successful treatments. We have found a gene that is highly amplified in recurrent cancers. This gene seems to play an important role in prostate cancer progression. Of course we want to learn more about its function and hopefully finally use it as a target and "knock it out", that is, develop a successful therapy and ultimately help pave the way to a cure.

As fate would have it, one of the effects we do see after artificial "deactivation" of this gene is that the cell shape changes depending on the success of a treatment.

As such, it's possible to use the same technique as my design work to explore and document this effect as the research team's work progresses.

Can you describe a bit about your actual design process?

So much comes from the coloration, which in my eyes is really the beginning of designing an image. If I were to show you the original black and white scans vs. the colored versions of a given photo, it would evoke a very different reaction and have a completely different effect for you. It's a totally different world.

I think this is because humans see everything around them in full color. So the images only first come to life with the color. And it can change so much with the color in terms of what we see and the emotions we feel. The entire impression of the image may change considerably with even subtle color variation, even if the light is "coming" from the left or the right can be extremely important (I have to ultimately imitate the effects of lighting). Again, I'm a perfectionist, so I really try to do my best to truly represent what the image is portraying.

Preparation is also very important, because it represents the basis of every final image. Especially in the case of smaller the objects, for example, if you look at different bacteria living in our stomachs or even much more sensitive life forms (e.g. fresh water bacteria), they are so very fragile and can be destroyed only by the slightest differences or defects in the preparation process. As such, sometimes a lot of trial and error is needed to finally get suitable high-quality SEM-scans for the coloration process.

One of the main reasons you have to be so extremely careful is because SEM requires that the sample contains no water, otherwise it would create a bad image and maybe damage the very expensive equipment as well.

Is the preparation part of the art for you?

The preparation is a very challenging part from the technical viewpoint and is certainly of fundamental importance in the overall process from a scientific point of view.

However, art has a lot to do with freedom and my freedom begins once I have managed to produce a technically flawless image from a well-preserved and hopefully interesting sample.

What criteria do you use to pick your different subjects to photograph?

At the beginning, I just found so many things interesting, both from my work, as well as things I would literally find in my own back yard.

For me, the effect is like flying through a range of microscopic mountains in a helicopter, or even scuba diving through mysterious deep-sea valleys teeming with unknown life. There's just so much of this "landscape" that I want to explore.

But of course you get a lot of bad samples, too. For example, the leaf of a salad is 98% water and it has to be dried and prepared accordingly, that is, trying to keep the cells in their original form. Again, the SEM "camera" is such an expensive piece of equipment that it requires great care.

But still, the coloration is so very important to achieving the best designs, so I really take the time to ensure I have the best possible sample. Too often, you have even "technical artifacts" that – without going into too much detail – can even cause very "bright" areas to appear. This can even destroy the sample, which occurs when the SEM beam doesn't detect the right "balance" of returning electrons.

The bottom-line is that it just takes patience, patience, and more patience.

What do you experience when looking at something for the first time on a microscopic level vs. a macroscopic level?

Sometimes of course you detect things that were not at all expected. This is such a thrill.

In the beginning of my work, this was the case all the time – well at least it was when everything lined up, namely that I had good samples and the technique worked well. But there were a lot of disappointments, too, and it was very time consuming in terms of number of hours spent working compared to the number of useable pictures I was generating.

What did you learn from your first illustrations or even some of those first mistrials?

Now I conduct in fact quite a lot of research on my "subject" before I start the design process. I try to have a plan in mind what kind of unique aspects I'm looking for that will ultimately create the most beautiful image.

Even then of course you can still get many surprises and get something very beautiful. I often find that the available literature and research about a given subject – be it pollen grains, or butterfly wings or whatever – will not even be fully able to explain some of the things I see and illustrate.

How much of this work comes from carefully aiming your "camera" at a given target vs. let's say, chancing upon an interesting view?

Of course chance plays a big role. For example, "finding" the picture shown above with the one piece of willow pollen "peaking out" from the flower was just a fantastic experience. This view illustrates not only important scientific aspects but really seems to jump out of the picture, almost like something being born saying to us, "hello world, here I am."

Sometimes my pictures can have a "double-meaning" for the viewer and this can also be a real treat, even if it's a piece of pollen that seems to be saying "kiss me" or something that evokes other images in our minds.

Your work features a variety of different objects, including both inorganic and organic subjects. Do you have a preference?

My main target is above all else creating innovative images of beautiful things that include portraits of "creatures" or other objects that most people will never have the opportunity to see during their lives, obviously because these objects are too small to be "discovered" in this way by the naked eye. Therefore, I like to share my unique and unforgettable encounters with a well-educated and constantly curious audience.

Still, I do like to focus on the "organic" world, because I guess the microcosm for me is filled with so much life and offers so many breathtaking views. I really believe it well worth being deeply and profoundly explored, and I'm only all too happy to be doing this.

How much do you go out and look for "subjects" or how much is by chance?

At the beginning I tried many different things that I came across. But soon I realized that not everything is suitable for this approach. So I began to think more and more about the subject before I started. After finding a subject attractive to me, as mentioned I usually conduct a lot of research and try to complete even a "series" of images within a certain topic. This helps me really push forward my explorations and again find the best images for my audience.

Even though I do spend a lot of time now doing research, I still like to try other samples I find, for example, on my way even to work with the microscope. Although it may not happen very often vs. my "targeted" searches, these samples I pick up can be really great and make my day!

What is your design process when working with various products?

A key aspect of my different product offers and the various professional jobs I've worked on is that the image has to "fit" within the scope of the purpose of the design.

For example, with the special edition side-tables, I came into contact with a young and talented designer in Basel (Bernard Strub) who was interested in collaborating with me to use my images in his own designs. But we agreed, the furniture had to be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing.

We ran lots of tests and really even tried to "destroy" each design model to make sure it was not only attractive but sturdy. Ultimately we settled on the form you see on my web-site, printing my designs then directly onto the wood and protecting the image with several layers of clear fixative for extra protection and a nice attractive finish.

How do you decide one of your designs is "finished"?

As always in my work, I try lots of things. With everything I do, I make different "previews" in terms of styles or color combinations. The decision to move forward has to come from a "gut reaction" that something works. Especially for my scientific work, the input and discussions with other scientists and area specialists is very important.

I also like to get input from my friends and family and luckily for me, my girlfriend is actually a very bright scientist, too. So, whenever I have difficulties, it's pretty easy to get a qualified opinion.

You seem to have a terrific balance between your work at the University and your work for the SEM provider. How do you manage this?

Well, in large part I am very lucky. In both cases, I am very pleased to say I have very good bosses who support me professionally and creatively.

Concerning my colleagues, both at the Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Basel and the SEM providers, Prüftechnik Uri GmbH (PTU) and Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Dep. Life Sciences, Muttenz (FHNW), I can't say "thank you" enough. Everyone has been so terrific to me. Additionally, as I said my friends, family and my girlfriend support me so much as well. Sorry, this may sound like an award speech, but it does mean a lot to me and it's of highest importance to my work.

Of course, I have to also invest a lot of time, energy and hard work in keeping everything working and not getting exhausted in the process – but I am very aware that without a good team you can't get anywhere!

But clearly, I would not feel right using either the labs at the Institute or the SEM equipment unless I was able to give something back to both groups.

For your coloration, do you try to be as true to nature as you can be or do you try different combinations to try and better illustrate an aspect of your design?

Yes, I do try to be true to nature's colors or let's say the scientifically relevant standards.

Take for example my illustrations of the butterfly wing. First, the scales you see are so wonderful, with layers and layers of little "winglets" coming together to create these fragile yet amazingly aerodynamic structures.

The yellow-brown combination is very accurate for the butterfly itself, which one of our cats, Herbert, kindly "provided" me from our garden. However, when I looked at the pictures, as a full-blooded biologist, I was struck by these very strange structures between the scales that you can see that appear to almost look like dust or even pollen particles.

I later consulted with a specialist in this field in Basel (Prof. Andreas Ehrhardt), and he indicated that it is not entirely clear what these structures do. It is believed that they are involved in releasing pheromones or even amplifying the release of these chemicals which are of course critical for attracting mates. Or they may (also) play a role in the aerodynamics of the butterfly, similar to a jet wing when landing, namely that the surface area is increased so that the plane can descend at a slower speed and more softly, but obviously without suddenly crashing to the ground.

So even after generating this image, I'm still very interested in discovering more. I definitely want to look at more samples, including not only male butterflies but also females and compare different parts of the wings. I want to know if both males and females have this structure or even something similar? It's not clear. So that's how I came to the second picture, that uses two very complimentary shades of blue along with the bright yellow colored structures.

In the first picture, you don't focus on these as they're somewhat grey and meld in more with the surrounding colors of the winglets. I guess you could say that the colors for the second picture that I've chosen are "fantasy" colors, but with this design, it helps the eye focus on these very special and even somewhat mysterious parts.

It's somehow the "incorrect" color but at the same time it's a very scientific way to look at it. I believe its similar to what we see in anatomy or medical books all the time. For example, blood vessels and arteries are always artificially painted red or blue, although this is not accurate. But if the artist were to use green and yellow, you would think he was crazy and even so, if he used the "real" colors, a great deal of the important information would be "lost".

When you create a design for a customer, do you always stick strictly to the customer's specifications?

(Laughs) That is indeed an interesting question. Let's put it this way: I always try my best to make sure that the designs and illustrations are very appealing and meet the needed criteria. Still, perhaps the customer is looking for something very specific, say for something "blue". Well, this is okay, too, in that I still have a lot of freedom to choose harmonic colors and to use the techniques I'm familiar with.

Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule and occasionally you come across "particular" customers who may have a highly specific passion, for example, for really limited the colors. There are times – obviously not only in my work but in general – when customers want to dictate every step of the process, instead of profiting from a specialist's creativity, knowledge and experience.

Don't misunderstand me, please. It has nothing to do with my awards or rising confidence or anything, but in such a case it becomes extremely difficult to produce high-quality results. Or, to formulate it as a question: would you really be convinced that it would be to your advantage to advise your dentist on what he has to do next? I'm not so sure...

Can you describe a little more about your color selection technique?

At a first glance of an object, you can get a general idea of a color scheme. Sometimes I just let the colors flow and come out as I work. It's fun just to see where it takes me in terms of the vision of the design that I had originally.

But for so much of what I look at, I really can't always pre-select the colors. Sometimes it's even the case that a great deal of the object is transparent, especially for cellular structures. Or the "green" we see in nature is really made of many different colored parts that we either can't see with the naked eye or just never expected at all.

Of course, getting back to working with customers: if they want or need a given color, I'll try and work with them. But still, I really need that high level of confidence that it works.

But as any designer will tell you, working with customers can also provide a breath of fresh air into one's own activities!

Of the different design products you offer, which media do you prefer to work with?

I produce some fine art prints and also as you see really nice quality post cards and calendars, and enjoy each of these very much.

But what I really like is to produce large high-quality prints, because that's what I always have in my mind when I'm working. So creating posters for conferences or other large displays is really a treat for me.

How involved are you in the actual "mass-scale" production of your designs?

I have a very good printer for the finer prints I want to produce (Stefan Probst). I'm also able to try with him different methods and techniques to see what works best to reach my targets.

Stefan is also very interested in trying new and experimental techniques. Plus, he works very precisely and exact as well. This is extremely important if you are producing fine art.

Have you ever considered adding other aspects to your graphic designs, for example, using inks that contribute more texture, or even other effects such as sparkle or reflectivity?

Not yet. But I've once seen some work done with silver embossed lettering that was very nice.

There's also a very good Swiss magazine that I like (animan) that uses lot's of different textures in their illustrations and especially cover work, including combining bright sections with matte backgrounds, which really makes the pictures jump out at the viewer. I'd definitely like to experiment more and more in this direction as time or my assignments permit.

I also have colleagues who are also involved in both design and photography that I talk to that help me come up with different options for my illustrations.

Do you do something to emphasize the texture of your works? For example, some of your works have a very wood-like quality, or convey an oily surface, or other very unique surface textures.

The use of shadowing in my work is very important. Most often, I "add" the shadowing typically at the end of the design process, particularly to highlight differences in various aspects or bodies within the picture. Also, if I don't like the choice of lighting, I might work to enhance the texture through by emphasizing with shadows.

Sometimes the texture just comes out owing to the subject matter. Take example my pictures of jumping spiders. These guys are really cute. For example, they have eyebrows similar to humans, even though in this case, their eyebrows go all the way around their eyes. And what's so interesting to me is that the structures of these hairs are totally different than those found on either their legs or their bodies.

For example, when I looked at a fly's eye vs. a mosquito's eye, I was totally surprised at the structures and textures. Before you put them in the microscope, you either learn things from studies or even realize them "intuitively". In these cases, you can see that a fly "aims" much more when it flies, vs. a mosquito that just sort of floats about, especially if there is some wind where it has obviously much less control. Also, the mosquito is naturally much more active at night compared to the fly.

What you see then through the "micronaut" process is that the mosquito has in fact gaps between the individual eyelets, whereas a fly's eye is a much more evenly fitted collection of "parts". So the vision of the mosquito is much less refined vs. the fly.

Also, with the fly, the "closer" I got I was amazed to see that among their well-defined sponge-like eye structures that there were everywhere little hairs. But what are these hairs used for? Keeping the eyes clean? Or are they used to detect flight velocity or even changes in the wind? Or do they have a combination of different functions? It's not known for sure.

It's simply so fascinating in that if I have a picture of various insects' eyes and have these details to texture, I can tell from their "design" alone more about how well they "see", how this quite possibly influences how they fly and how they interact with the world around them.

You seem to have a real interest in the aspects between types of seemingly similar organisms. How did this arise?

During my studies, I had a great professor for evolutionary biology, Professor Steve Stearns. His lectures were really terrific.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about all kinds of these biological processes and was fascinated with how nature evolves and adapts over time. It does take so long for an "improvement" to show up in a species, certainly over many many generations, but it's fascinating to look at the different steps up close.

The 'design by nature' aspect of my work and studies fascinates me very much. Of course, it's exciting to find out more about the "why", that is, the processes that have led to these fantastic structures. It's something that is always on my mind during my "exploration" when I'm sitting at the microscope.

What is the smallest size of an object you've analyzed?

Well, the smallest pollen in the world is from the "forget-me-not" and that measures about 6 microns across. Compared to a human hair, which is typically 40 to 300 microns in diameter or a grain of sand which can range between 100 to 2'000 microns in size, that's pretty small. But pollen from a pumpkin is 250 microns in size, so obviously nature provides an enormous amount of variety in terms of size or shape or many other aspects to enjoy.

Also, I've recently been taking pictures of Streptococcus bacteria for a pending article, and these are typically 200 – 400 NANOmeters in size.

I will say though that at this stage with the SEM equipment I'm using, it's very difficult to get a sharp picture the smaller the object is and is obviously then even more of a challenge to get the design in the form you want it to be in.

How many variations do you try before you finish a design?

Well, sometimes the first trial comes out "pretty good". But most images involve really an evolution over time.

I'll often try different several variations, for example, red- or green-shaded versions of a given object. What's important though again is to work with colors that bring out the natural aspects of the object, if not the actual color itself.

For example, I had one piece that I eventually used varying shades of yellow. At first, I thought this would be totally wrong and unappealing, but in the end it really expressed best not only what I was trying to capture but the quite different aspects of the item itself. I was surprised but ultimately very pleased with the end result and had a terrific time "discovering" all that I did in this picture.

What's the primary target you're trying to achieve with your coloration?

What's very important is that I try to "give back" life to the grey pictures that the SEM provides. I also have to re-illuminate different aspects and even textures that the preparation process can take away or make less sharp.

Take for example the picture of the willow pollen shown above. In Switzerland, you have two types of willow, one that blooms very nicely at lower altitudes and one at higher locations. The plants found at lower elevations are fertilized then by insects, but the ones in the mountains depend on wind for fertilization, because its usually too cold during the same time that both types bloom.

As I've learned then, usually plants that rely on insects for fertilization have a very "sticky" pollen so that it can be easily attached to the insect's legs or other body parts. These plants even produce lower amounts but larger sizes of pollen vs. their mountainous cousins. The way I think about it, is that this is because the plant is "sure" it will land in the right place, because insects like bee's go from one plant to the same type of plant depending on the time of the year.

However, if the pollen depends on the wind to be transported, it has to be lighter or smaller, as well as drier. It also can't be sticky or it wouldn't travel (e.g. if it hits the ground or sticks together with other pollen). So in this case, my technique also requires that this design reflects a texture of "stickiness" that you can see on the pollen's surface.

Where do you see your work going in the next years?

Well, I see the very good balance between my scientific work and my design continuing to grow. I also think for science its very important to have an image that really helps get a message across, as well as aiding research of course. It's important though to have a good picture that helps spread information more to people that might otherwise be "turned off" by scientific input.

With my design, I'm always anyway working on 4 or 5 projects in parallel at the same time. If one then strikes me as very interesting, like what I've been doing recently with pollen or bacteria, and I think this is really fascinating and something the world hasn't seen this yet, then I'll really try and concentrate for a while on this area. This could be a project then that lasts for many months, especially if I'm doing it initially for myself and not as a specific assignment.

But again, I really feel that this helps get this information out as it brings to life so much scientific information that could accompany perhaps much more technical results, including to people that might not normally be interested in such fields. In so many ways, I want to continue to be able to sensitize people to the beautiful things around us.

I also want to continue to focus on scientific, problematic areas especially for special design projects. I quite enjoy also working with other designers or people needing in thinking up ways of illustrating my works.

Looking further down the road, how do you see your design process evolving?

I see my work developing as the science of imaging and microscopic techniques improve. I want to expand in the near future to atomic force level images and highly sophisticated light microscopic (type) images. This will actually then begin to take us down to the level of seeing individual atoms or even illustrate objects that are only truly visible through other energy types, including fluorescent light.

One of the drawbacks naturally is that these new technologies are very expensive and I may have to wait a while to get my first images successfully produced. But my balance of science and design interests keeps me going and really looking forward to the next steps in the technology.

What for you would be the "Holy Grail" in terms of a design topic? What would you most like to photograph in the world?

It's really hard to say, because there are so many possibilities. I'm interested for example in photographing newly discovered life forms, particularly new oceanic discoveries of different types of fish or plankton. But our universe – be it macro or micro – is so interesting, it's difficult to imagine what might be waiting out there.

What would you say to someone getting started out in design?

Well, if someone asked the question, I would assume they were already interested in art and design, and had some idea if their work was any good. So I'd say "focus on the most important aspects of your designs, work hard, and 'move your cheese' (which actually a very good friend of mine once said to me)" and everything should work out.

How about your shows at the Restaurant Union and also at the Pricewaterscooper Headquarters in Basel? How much preparation do shows like this take? Has it been an overwhelming process or do you really enjoy it?

Oh I've definitely enjoyed myself. Sure its a lot of work and there have been a lot of long nights in the past weeks and months, but its a very fun process. Putting together my favorite pictures for the past 12 months has been amazing. Also, especially seeing so many of my new pictures coming out of the printer for the first time in fine art or poster forms so that I can finally touch them ... well, its perhaps not the same feeling as becoming a father, but for me I think it must certainly be in this direction...

Of course, a lot of the extra work for the show comes because of my sense of perfectionism. For example, my girlfriend doesn't understand sometimes because she'll see me work for hours and hours into the night and doesn't really see what it is I'm changing. But again, for me every pixel has to be just right before I'm satisfied with the final design, because the pictures I produce aren't made for (small) monitors, but for large formats and especially for prints.

For sure, I also hope the audience likes what I do. If people like my work, sure, it's a big motivation to do more, but it's not the only reason I want to continue my work. That comes from my own fascination and enthusiasm.

So, I'm looking forward to seeing my pictures displayed and have to say that I'm pretty relaxed.

Getting away for a moment from the "micro-cosmos": you also feature a number of pictures on your web-site that include musicians. Does music play an important role in your work and your life?

Well, a lot of my pictures are of a band called "Jungle Boy". One of the guys in the band is an old friend of mine that in fact some years ago studied biology with me. He changed his studies though after a while to focus on his music, and we actually lost contact for a few years. He's a great musician and has really been the talent behind a lot of different bands, also traveling to different countries on tour.

There's a funny story to all this though: after not seeing him for years, I actually saw him in Basel one day just playing with some friends, you know, jamming out in public. I didn't come up to him but as I always take my camera with me, I began taking pictures of him and the band while still not letting him see me. Then, I burned the pictures onto a CD and mailed them to him to say "Hi!".

He was totally surprised and really happy with what I sent him. Since then, I've done some photography for his band, including in concert. So now I'm kind of the de facto "official photographer" of the group, which has been really fun. They're also a great bunch of guys and I really like their music.

Martin, if you could do anything else besides work in biology or design and photography, what would it be and why?

It's really hard to say. I've done other things in my life before I started either at the University and to be honest, I feel like I have only just started with my design and photography. I just happen to be very fortunate to find not one but two main areas in terms of work that on one hand "complete" each other and on the other hand that I also really enjoy.

I think though with my personality that whatever I was doing, I would try to enjoy my work as much as possible. But yes, I'd probably still be a perfectionist, too.

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Martin’s photographs and design works have been featured on a number of conference posters, corporate brochures, calendars and greeting cards, magazine covers and even furniture. His clients and others that have used his works include Promega, LONZA, Swiss Biotech, FOCUS magazine, n-tv, Reader's Digest, various Swiss newspapers as well as TV shows, and many more.

For his design work, Martin has received several awards, including most recently first place in the 2008 international competition of the prestigious scientific magazine "The EMBO Journal" in the category of best scientific cover.

But as Martin himself confirms, it's not about winning awards that keeps him motivated to keep working often into the wee hours of the night. His latest works are on display at the PricewaterhouseCoopers main building in Basel, Switzerland (25 St. Jakobs-Strasse) until 15 August, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays (including a special narrated show by Martin himself on 12.August from 5 - 6.30 p.m.), after a successful stop back in May 2008 at the Restaurant Union, also in Basel.

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Additional Comments: some weeks after completing the interview with Martin, I finally got to see his printed “large version” works close up. I was literally blown away at the detail and sheer beauty of what he had created. Even some of the “ickiest” subject matters – molds and fungi for example – were full of not only artistic beauty but also a few into areas of nature and science I had never imagined. The detail and literally how the 3D views jumped out at you was just terrific. Amazing stuff for sure!

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Additional links:

Martin would like to extend his thanks to the following institutes for their generous support:
Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Basel
Prüftechnik Uri GmbH (PTU)
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Dep. Life Sciences, Muttenz (FHNW)

Ziggy Nixon James Posey Martin Oeggerli Micronaut