Pollen — the seeds of beauty
Hidden beneath the laws of nature
Perhaps spending their whole lives unseen
Unless, humbly, you draw near and feel
It reflected in your eyes
Only when observing it
Does beauty exist
AU Optronics and the National Taiwan Museum(NTM) have formulated a cross-sector collaboration through which we plan to showcase the ” A Whole New Micro World – Dance to the Beauty of Life ” exhibit at the 2018 Taichung Flora Exposition AUO Micro Gallery together, so that people may discover the various wonders hidden in nature through technology.
Exploring the world of flora through a microscope
In this collaboration between NTM and AUO, as many as over 100 kinds of plants were collected and their pollen made into specimens and scanned. NTM provided AUO Micro Gallery with abundant and various microscopic images of pollen as well as specimens of fruits and seeds to create features for the exhibition that will be both educational and aesthetically pleasing.
Photographing microscopic images of pollen is usually used for scientific research. The pollen is extracted from the plant specimens collected, treated with a strong acid, and then preserved in alcohol. Before the pollen is placed under a scanning electron microscope, it has to be dried and treated with a metal coating first before it undergoes electron microscope scanning and imaging. Since pollen is extraordinarily minuscule, it cannot be placed at different angles for photography purposes, so in order for the pollen’s main features to be recorded, the preparation process has to be repeated several times to produce multiple specimens so that the necessary images can be obtained. Using microscopic photographs taken using the scanning electron microscope and enlarged tens of thousands of times, AUO Micro Gallery has produced high-resolution videos by editing the images and building 3D digital models. All the different faces of pollen are depicted to allow visitors a peek into its microscopic beauty.
