Macro or Micro? A Visual Art Exhibition Challenging Our Perceptions of Scale

Abstract

Macro or Micro? is an exhibition of imagery created through an electron microscope and from satellites. The images are displayed together in a gallery setting where the viewers are asked to determine which are macro images and which are micro images. The micro images capture details that are millimeters or less in size, whereas the macro images capture details that are kilometers or larger in size—a difference in scale of a million times or more. Scale is a mathematical concept relating the distance on a map, or image, to the actual distance on the earth’s surface. Most people have a broad understanding of scale and how it distinctively changes at different levels. The imagery in this exhibition, however, blurs the differences in scale, creating a profoundly confusing sense of scale. The unhinging of scale in Macro or Micro? is created by the nature of patterns, which repeat themselves at different scales. An offshoot from the original exhibition was Macro or Micro? Misinterpreting the Unfamiliar, which was exhibited in Iran in 2015. Those who are familiar with imagery from the electron microscope or from satellites tend to discern the imagery better, just like those engaged with other cultures understand the difference between cultures better. Because Iran and the United States have been separated from each other diplomatically for decades, the differences in scale took on a social context of differences in cultures. This collaborative work bridges art and science, raising questions about how we interpret various points of view, the broader universe, and our place in it.