January 15, 2008 (Vol. 28, No. 2)

URL:
http://pruned.blogspot.com/2006/02/more-gardens-in-petri.html

Rating:
Strong Points: Beautiful
Weak Points: More plates would be welcome

Summary:
A site that blurs the lines between science and art, Pruned appears to be a follow-up to an earlier effort that I was unable to locate. The fact that I was looking for the original demonstrates how taken I was by the content on this page. Artists are always looking for new media to provide outlets for their expressions and whoever created Pruned found a surprisingly powerful medium in a microbiology lab—Petri dishes. Better yet, these Petri dishes contain bacterial-growth media and the “paintings” on the plates result from the growth of the bacteria themselves. How the artist was able to combine texture and color by mixing/matching/streaking bacteria is beyond me. While it is possible that Photoshop played a role in some of the coloring, it is clear that the patterns on the plates are those of growing bacteria. Definitely worth a look.

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