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MEDICINE BAKERY/GALLERY – ART AND SCIENCE EXPO 2018
May 18, 2018 @ 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Willard Wigan
Visitors to the Medicine Gallery will be amongst the first people in the city to see new micro-sculptures by internationally renowned artist Dr Willard Wigan MBE at an exhibition running from Friday 18th May to Sunday 3rd June
The exhibition will showcase around twenty-five micro-miniature works which sit within the eye of a needle, on the head of a pin and even on a human hair.
Alongside the new pieces, visitors will be able to see some of Wigan’s most iconic sculptures such “Evolution” – from ape to man, “The Last Supper in the eye of a needle”, “Gold Galleon on a pinhead” and the Guinness World Record holding sculpture “Golden Voyage” – a motorbike carved from specs of dust inside a hollowed out human hair.
The exhibition will appeal to not only art lovers, but people of all ages (including children) who are fascinated by and appreciate the skill and genius of the artists unique perspective as they are transported to another dimension when viewing the impossibly small creations through custom-made displays incorporating microscopes.
The micro-sculptor, who was born in Wolverhampton, is famous for sculpting the world’s smallest works of art and has been celebrated in the Guinness Book of World Records.
His work has been described as “the eighth wonder of the world”.
Denise McLean
Denise who works at University of Nottingham has been accredited as a Registered Scientist by the Institute of Science and Technology, through the Science Council and is also a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society. Her expertise is in the areas of Electron Microscopy and Histology.
Denise is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ambassador and has a passion for introducing young people to the world of science through outreach projects in Primary and Secondary Schools.
Denise and her team are all passionate and enthusiastic microscopists and wanted to bring this fascinating microscopic world to schools and the general public by developing a unique microscope using a raspberry pi, a tiny computer, running Linux with a built in camera. This model will give everyone the opportunity to build a simple and flexible imaging system from scratch using inexpensive components in order to develop their understanding on basic physics, biology and computing.
Once people have built the microscope they are given a range of biological samples such as cumin seeds, sand, flying ants and pond water to look at with the microscopes and capture/save those images using simple commands on the raspberry pi computer.
The teaching of microscopy allows one to enter a wonderful and beautiful world beyond the limits of one’s own eyesight.
The appeal of this form of science could possibly be due in part to it being relatively simple to build whilst still producing beautiful images and movies.
Denise is currently working alongside her colleagues at the University of Nottingham, on a project with Dr Willard Wigan MBE. It is still in the early stages of development and all will be revealed in due season … watch this space
Venue: Medicine Bakery / Gallery, 69A New Street, Birmingham B2 4DU (next to Santander Bank)
Exhibition dates: Friday 18th May 2018 to Sunday 3rd June 2018
Opening Hours: 11.00am – 17.00
Reminder: The venue is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
General admission: £5
Children (under 12): £2.50
Concessions (students and over-65s): £4
Family ticket (2 adults & 2 children): £12