Jess Holz

@jessholz.bsky.social

Artist and microscopist. MFA art + technology, but work in a neuro lab by day. Insects, neurons, electron microscopy… follow me to see lots of plankton videos… jessholz.com

FINAL WEEK for Plankton Paintings: Footprints of the Invisible at Harvard Ed Portal. Next thursday is the last day to see it, it’s been a great run! I’ve really enjoyed bringing local plankton to center stage, and had some wonderful conversations. #sciart #microscopy

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For #fluorescencefriday I present boring brown ‘junk’, debris, marine snow- consisting of decaying organisms and plant matter, that become colorful galaxies under fluorescence. I always wonder about the histories of living organisms present in these debris. Sample from the Charles river #sciart

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Anyone know what the coiled structure is in these fluorescence photos? The coil seems to be only visible if the tissue is destroyed. 200-400x magnification, autofluorecence of a sample collected from punching through ice in a shallow part of the Charles river, Boston. #sciart #microscopy

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Thanks everyone for coming to the opening of Plankton Paintings: Footprints of the Invisible. Had great turnout and the artist talk went well. My mom, sister, and friend from Milwaukee even flew out. Super special to share this with everyone. #sciart

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Had a blast at Artisans Asylum open studios scoping tardigrades. Made some fun timelapse too with the ciliates in the sample providing the ‘scribbles’. Def attracted nerdy types with the tardigrades, but even people who didn’t know what they were were captivated by their cute little wiggles.

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Really loved this part of Plankton Performance at MIT museum. This part of Movement II: Charles river is done using timelapse and fluorescence microscopy. Note all the filamentous cyanobacteria. Big red blobs are rotifers with chlorophyll in their bellies swimming around. #sciart #experimentalvideo

A rare green fluorescent flagellate, ‘swimming plant’, trails in timelapse under fluorescence microscopy. Anyone know what causes green fluorescence in marine critters? 99.9% of flagellates I find are red from chlorophyll. Sample collected from Boston harbor. #sciart #algae #plankton

I’ll be ‘performing’ with lively plankton from the Charles river at MIT museum Sept 12th, 7pm. Composer Senem Pirler will respond to the plankton movements with sound. Would love to see you there! #sciart #microscopy

Leica Microsystems@leicamicrosystems.bsky.social · 11mo ago

✨🦠 Join artist Jess Holz @jessholz.bsky.social & composer Senem Pirler for "Plankton Performance," a live sci-art experience under a Leica DMRB microscope! 📍 MIT Museum, Sept 12, 7PM EDT 🔗 Get info: https://fcld.ly/zzw2dn9 #sciart #planktonpainting #ScienceMeetsArt

Started my vacation with a family visit to my studio, looking at water from the harbor. My sister Brit is the one that crocheted me all the adorable critters (great for workshops too). And we found a polychaete that looked like toothless! Below. #microscopy #sciart

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