Peek into the chemical nursery where metal crystals are born and bred
A project by the Italian chemistry student and photographer Emanuele Fornasier, Crystal Birth features close-up time-lapse photography of electrocrystallisation, a process in which an electrical current running through a chemical solution results in the gradual buildup of metal on an electrode. By carrying out this process over hours or days, depending on the chemicals present in the reaction, Fornasier is able to capture crystals piling on beautifully, layer by layer, in a remarkable synthesis of science and art.
Via Colossal.
Director: Emanuele Fornasier
videoBiology
Dive deep into an egg cell to see how ageing reboots when a new life begins
2 minutes
videoHistory of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes
videoNature and landscape
After independence, Mexico was in search of identity. These paintings offered a blueprint
15 minutes
videoArt
A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea
7 minutes
videoArt
Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus
8 minutes
videoFilm and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
videoOceans and water
A stunning visualisation explores the intricate circulatory system of our oceans
5 minutes
videoArt
When East met West in the images of an overlooked, original photographer
9 minutes
videoEarth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes