Norbert Brunner - Micro II

NORBERT BRUNNER
Micro II, 2017
C-print, acrylic glass, adhesive dots, LEDs, frame

Believe-it-or-not artist Norbert Brunner produces his art — just like many a cliché — in 'Mad Scientist' mode. Working with multiple layers of acrylic glass, to produce works that resemble near perfect micro-environments, he cannot afford a single spec — whether of dust, or life (such as a fly or moth’s egg, or a spider), or, of human trace (such as an eyelash, hair, or fingerprint) — to enter the physical realm of his art objects. They’d ruin their visual effect. As such, Brunner works under a dust-free canopy, a space that resembles the triage tents depicted in 'outbreak' movies, or the germ-free spaces seen in 'bubble-boy' movies. No small matter can get between the artist and his work.

Here, at Coffee Pirates, situated in the heart of one of the world’s most renowned and celebrated medical and scientific precincts — and we guess with an audience replete with medicos and scientists —Brunner’s dance with micro-material pollutants should be well understood. 

So it’s no small irony that the image you are looking at (in Micro II) is an electron microscope scan of a dust mote; one of those specs that could render one of Brunner’s works useless. It’s shape — known in art as a Tondo or Rondo (meaning round) — is not so common for a painting or a photograph. Nevertheless, here, it takes on the appearance of a petri dish! The world’s largest such receptacle, maybe?

The work reminds us that in the world of smallness — the atomic, the cellular, the granular, the microbial — resides the world of bigness. So here, in the space of the Coffee Pirates, take your time; smell-and-taste the coffee — then launch yourself into the Universe. And remember that, in some small way, Norbert Brunner’s artwork inspired your leap.

Instagram:	@brunner_world @norbertbrunnerdot
Website:	https://norbertbrunner.com