Micro I

'Micro', a three part Series

The Oxford dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2023) defines ‘seeping’ as the slow flow of liquids or particles in small quantities through something or into something ultimately leading to a point of saturation.

As human beings we are not separate from the world; we move through, with and within it. Each mundane interaction touches other people, landscapes, creatures and organisms. Having an impact on earth is an inevitable symptom of being of and in the world. Our mundane tasks and routines leave man-made traces that are no longer in-sync with the natural world.

'Microplastics', a neologisism first coined in 2004 (Thompson, 2004:383), have become a regular find in mammals and plankton alike with a recent publication by Leslie et al. ( 2022: 167), recording traces of microplastics finding its way to a closer and more intimate space invisible to the naked eye - the cellular structure of our blood. The presence of manmade pollutants in this natural and organic matter on a cellular level raise questions of adaptability, evolution or perhaps eventual destruction.

In this three-part 'Micro' Series the cellular and microscopic structure of natural and manmade materials and matter, as contributors to and in the world, create 'imaginary' overlapped structures.

These altered microscopic creations functions as windows allowing us to visualise the unseen as a gradual but consistent flow of pollutants seeping into microscopic matter ultimately leading to a point of complete saturation and inevitable alteration of what was once considered natural.

Airdry clay disks form the main structure of the cells, while household soap coated with resin acts as a metaphor of our impact and ultimate footprint on a microscopic level.

Reference list:

1. Oxford learner’s dictionary. 2023. Oxford Univercity Press, Oxford. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/seep?q=seeping Accesses: 24 March 2023.
2. Thompson, R.C., Olsen, Y., Mitchell, R.P., Davis, A., Rowland,S.J., John A.W.G., McGonigle, D., Russell A.E. 2004. 'Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic?' Science, 304(5672):838.
3. Leslie, H.A., Martin J.M., van Velzen, M.J.M., Sicco H., Brandsma, S.H., Vethaak,A.D., Garcia-Vallejo, J.J, Lamoree, M.H. 2022. Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood. 'Environment International', 167:1-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199.