Wednesday, June 6, 2007

horseshoe crab


From an early age I thought there was something very unique or sacred about this animal. I used to draw and paint it a lot. It is a horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), Technically they are from the scorpion or spider kingdom. I eventually found out that the copper-based, blue blood of the horseshoe crab is a vital ingredient used in testing the purity of medicine. In nature very unique looking creatures often have very unique properties, medicinal or otherwise. Not unlike Dali.
In 1967, Dr. H. Keffer Hartline received the Nobel Prize for his research on horseshoe crab vision. He discovered how sensory cells in the retina help the brain process visual cues, enabling horseshoe crabs to see lines, shapes, and borders. This mechanism, called lateral inhibition, allows horseshoe crabs to distinguish mates in murky water. Research of this type is helpful to understanding human eye diseases like retinitis pigmentosa, which causes tunnel vision and can lead to total blindness

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In this piece you are ripping off both Frieda Khalo and Georgia O'Keefe and doing it badly.