An interactive work named in honor of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 1632-1723, known as the father of microbiology and the first to observe microorganisms.
Materials: Eleven magnifying glasses of random sizes are mounted vertically on the wooden table painted a neutral grey and supported by a steel base. Three-inch diameter aluminum disks are attached to the magnifier’s handles by thin gauge steel cable whose surfaces are printed with a variety of images; some are scientific engravings of insects, early 20th c. illustrations; others are my own photographs. The disks are meant to be seen and understood from behind the magnifying glass in an intimate act of viewing. The photograph of young African American children in a Baltimore street march on Caroline St. was taken in the early 1980’s. The discs were fabricated by Griffin Editions in Brooklyn NY using a dye sublimation process.
Dimensions: 60” h x 36” w x 24”d
Photos: ©breongilleran
Detail of dye sublimation disk: photos: ©breongilleran
Feel for Steel 