Atkin's Big Ideas are like the nine pillars of Chemistry. They summarize the essential components of this knowledge in a harmonious manner. I dedicated my Art and Science Project to representing the balance of pH in the body through six of those big ideas: matter is made of atoms, elements display periodicity, chemical bonds form when electrons pair, molecular shape is a crucial feature in chemistry, entropy tends to increase and there are barriers to reaction. Combined, these ideas helped me create a rather abstract art work for which my train of thought is expressed in the following lines.
My choice for the topic of pH was not arbitrary. What I found unique about this theme is that it contained one of the greatest tendencies of life: balance. The absence of balance is chaos, the presence of balance is existence. The circle of life is always striving against disorder and for perfection. Similarly, the pH of the body must be in absolute balance at all times and is theoretically between 7.35 and 7.40. If our body become too basic or too acidic, death is very likely. This is what I wanted to articulate through my art work with a rather abstract approach.
The chemistry component of my work begins with the concept of reaction and reactivity. Acids and bases react to form salt and water. Here I represent that there are barrier to reaction. Water is not only particularly known as a very neutral substance, but it's equally very unique in terms of its properties. It is a polar bent molecule with a tetrahedral geometry. The water molecule is a covalent bond with a strong hydrogen bonding, which results in its high cohesiveness and other special characteristics. With this I communicate that chemical bonds form when electrons pair and consequently molecular shape is a crucial feature in chemistry. Hydrogen has its very dignified place in the study of pH but "has no place to call home" on the periodic table. This shows that elements display periodicity. The organized pH balance is constantly kept by the body proves the presence of Entropy. Finally, all matter is made of atoms.
The art component of this project is however not so obvious. After asking an audience to predict the topic behind the colors and images, many interpreted the art work from differing and often very interesting perspectives. To begin, balance made me think of faith. As a Muslim, Islam is really the center of my life and constantly a reminder that success in this life is to be in a state of balance where spiritual, mental and physical health are all being nourished fairly and simultaneously. This then made me think of the yin and yang and how they represent the presence of good in bad and the presence of bad in good. This symbol of the Chinese faith emphasizes the coherence of all aspects of life such as light and dark, positive and negative, hot and cold, woman and man, melancholic and joyous...etc. Rather than being different and opposing, it suggests that they are the same and complementary. The Islamic faith regards the three monotheist religions in this manner. They are all one revealed in three different stages. Judaism was the first, Christianity, the second and Islam the last concluding bit of this one faith. In other words, I represented the pH balance with the balance of the yin and yang accompanied by the unity of the three monotheist religions (or the one faith).
After reading this and looking again at my art work, the puzzle pieces may start fitting. The most outstanding part of my work is the veiled woman in the center. Firstly, she represents water. I made her specially in third dimension in order to emphasize the exceptionality of water in terms of its characteristics or chemical properties. Also, the fact that the woman is veiled is to manifest the presence of Islam in the work as the two Jewish stars in the blue and red flowers signify the presence of Judaism. To symbolize Christianity, I put the women in the center of the yin and yang, mimicking the manner with which the famous painters of Mother Mary always embrace her with a circle of light to accentuate her angelic and holly character. The yin (dark side) is meant to represent the acid since acids are known to be slightly more harmful than bases. In this section, the flower is orange/red, which represents the acidic extreme of the pH scale. In opposition, the Yang (light side) represents the base and therefore the flower is blue/violet. Those two combine form water (the woman) and salt (the sparkles). The elements in the background have no particular significance. The Hydrogen, however, was not placed with them but in the yin-yang. Finally, the colors of the background represent the overwhelming colors of the pH scale: blue/violet, yellow/green and red/orange.
In conclusion, this project was devoted to exemplify the balance of pH in the human body as an indivisible whole. My art work is a combination of simple chemistry concepts portraying six of Atkins Big Ideas and a touch of spiritual harmony.