The Painted DNA - Essay Example

The Painted DNA Every living thing is unique and portrays special characteristics only shared by members of the same family.An elephant would be expected to give birth to small elephants while a dog would be expected to do the same. The answer to this unique and err-proof process lies within the molecule of life, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This is a unique and critical structure that contains the necessary biological institutions to make every living thing unique and related in some way. The instruction career differentiates between two living beings in the same family by making every one unique from each other though related to members of the same family. DNA is an instruction career shared by the adults to their offspring in the reproduction process. The DNA has a special shape in the form of linked chains formed by strands of DNA. Today, though DNA is by itself complex and difficult to understand to a layperson, artistic designs have found a way of presenting the DNA structure in a more simplified manner. The structure represents the actual chemical DNA though with little details that are better left for the experts in the area of biological sciences. The artistic representation of the DNA molecule offers an interesting perspective where art and science merge to explain one of the complex and mysterious blocks of life to make easy for people to understand and have a simplified view of the molecule which is every unique to living things. Therefore, artistic expression of DNA is meant to simplify the molecule and bring out a close relation between art and life in an interesting way that makes the layperson understand and appreciate such scientific complex phenomena. Karen Robinsons is a London-based freelance photographer. Robinson has undertaken a wide range of photography and other artist work with most of her work finding its way to the magazines, newspapers among other publications across the globe. Specifically, most of her work has been highlighted in leading media houses including the Times, Guardian Weekend, Vogue, the Independent, and Marie Clare among other leading publications (Robinson, 2014). This publicity has made her work common in art galleries. Recently, her work in presenting the main political parties for the campaign process for The Observer is an indication of her leading photography works. Robinson has a deep interest in covering environmental issues and has led to high profile campaigns working closely with leading firms such as Oxfam and the Action Aid. Some of the major topics that Robinson is known for include her deep coverage of the displacement of the Adivasi people in India who were displaced to give way to Indias Narmada Dam, global warming issues is Alaska and issues concerned with child labor problems in Indias cotton industry (Robinson, 2014). Generally, Robinson has deep interests in uncovering issues that affect humanity, which narrates of her interests in understanding and presenting the value of humanity today. Importantly, Robinson has a deep interest in abstract photography and painting, a branch of art that she has extensively used to express her feelings and understanding more about who she is. Abstract painting is the detailed use of the visual language of color, form shape and line resulting in a detailed element that may stand independently from other visual elements in the world. In her abstract painting, that she terms as "my art therapy journey," she undertakes abstract digital photo painting. It is through these abstract paintings and photos that Robinson has managed to tell a story about self, and more importantly, communicating her feelings and identity to the audience. The use of the term theory in this case is meant to signify a process of self-discovery where through art; the artist is able to tell a story about herself and her identity in greater detail though with no words to accompany such artistic work. Consequently, it is through abstract painting that Robinson used a colored DNA painting to express deep feelings about herself and her identity, considering that DNA is a unique molecule that defines individuals and offers them unique characters to make them whom they really are. There Robinsons offers a concise interaction of scientific and artistic work to explain a complicated phenomenon about the life molecule, the DNA in a way that conveys detailed message about the life molecule. Robinson’s abstract DNA painting (Source Robinson, 2014) From the above painting, it is clear that the DNA is made of interlinking strands that form a definite helix shape. Moreover, the deep use of painting portrays multiplicity in that a DNA is made of several components all with different functions. As such, the different colors, in this case, could have been meant to portray the variety of effects the presence of the DNA could mean. Color conveys different emotions. Moreover, the DNA molecule is a life molecule that gives unique characters to people. Consequently, the different colors used could be an indication of these different emotions. This is because the painting itself is a tool of self-expression which details the feelings and thoughts of the artist to the audience. Therefore, the use of tone and different colors could be a representation of these qualities. As has been discussed, people the same family have similar DNAs though the structure differs slightly to give each individual a unique DNA. Therefore, the major functions of the DNA, as shown in the painting above, include eliciting unique feelings and emotions as would be triggered by different colors used in this painting. As explained, another major function of the DNA, as portrayed in the painting, is the complexity. Livings things have complex systems that interact to make the whole, with the complexity being responsible for the varying emotions, feelings, and actions. The painting above is complex and is, in fact, hard to figure out the elements that make the painting. The artist has used this complexity to indicate the complex nature of human beings, a factor that results from the messages relayed by DNAs as the life given molecule in humans. In other words, considering the feelings, emotions, characters and other values that make the self, the DNA in these interrelated functions defines the uniqueness of every individual. The artistic representation of the DNA has been showcased for the general audience. Art is about making meanings through the use of lines colors and shapes. In addition, these artistic elements are sued together to present feelings emotions and to convey specific messages to the audience. The validity of the communicated messages is only obtained when the audience analyzes such artistic work to make meanings. As a result, the different audiences will make different meanings from such an artistic wok based on perception and how the artistic elements relate to make the whole. This makes it possible to have a general audience in artist work considering that the painting will have different meanings to different audiences depending on their ability to decode the presented meanings, as such abstract paintings though complex to decode over rely on the use of color to elicit different emotions from the audience which results in multiplicity of decoding and understand a single artistic work. However, in order to make the actual meaning, there is a need for the audience to have some basic information on biological sciences where they have to understand the nature and meaning of DNA. Relating such knowledge to the artistic expression brings about the actual meaning of the artistic work and leads to better appreciation of the concepts that the artist has used to illustrate such a complex phenomenon in a simplified way using color, line, and form. Therefore, basic knowledge in biological sciences is necessary to make out the actual meaning of the painting and appreciate the nature and value of the painting in presenting the DNA in an artistic way. The above work has a large impact on artistic representation of phenomena. For instance, the use of abstract painting has been a common practice for many years where color, line, shapes, and forms are used to convey a certain message artistically. As such the above painting goes future to relate scientific concepts and artistic work. In the future, though similar paintings wit could be possible to present difficult scientific principles through simplified artistic work that could be remembered through observation and decoding. The approach may open a new chapter in schools where students may use the different artistic concepts to learn scientific principles more easily considering that though observation such concepts may be easy to remember than through scientific theoretical concepts. As such, though the DNA is a molecule that gives specific qualities to individuals, artistically it is possible to use the same DNA to express self-emotions and feelings to the audience, a major step that could open better relations between abstract painting and scientific principles. Robinsons abstract painting of the DNA is somehow controversial in the way the DNA has been presented. In biological science, A DNA structure is clearly presented alongside the different proteins that make the structure, in addition to other important details that make the entire structure. However, in this case, the abstractness of the painting relies on heavy use of color that slightly distorts the structure of the DNA molecule as known. As a result, it could be difficult to identify the molecule without detailed analysis of the painting, though artistic work conveys different messages to a different audience. The main concept that was attractive in this painting is the creativity in the painting. Abstract painting is an artistic way of producing an illusion of the common visible reality. Abstract art dictates a departure from the normal reality. Abstract art is a method through which expressionist artists departed from the moral use of line the use of surface, use distortions and exaggerate the use of color to result in emotions charged paintings. The important aspect in this painting is its stability to convey emotions and feelings for the artist to the audience, which is best conveyed through such abstract painting. The ability to use a scientific principle artistically to convey such emotions was a striking concept in the painting that stood out for its creativity and uniqueness in artistic work. One of the ways to build on Robinson’s painting would be to include a concept of flow in the painting. The above painting has definite contours. However, a flowing painting presents a case of dynamism, a good concept that may be linked to emotions and feelings that keep on changing with time. There is a need for the artistic painting; the use of flowing aspect in the painting would elicit the view that life is dynamic. The use of detail in painting would improve the meaning of life in addition to ensuring the painting is smooth and the use of depth. Work cited Robinson Karen. Sharing my art therapy journey. Feb 20, 2014 http://idoartkarenrobinson.com/tag/dna/ Accessed March 28, 2015. Read More