The legacy of Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry is brought to life on Motiva, an innovative art piece that blends art with technology.
“The Seen and Unseen Beauty of Nature” Motiva, featuring 16 quotes from Prof. Ciechanover personally curated by him, captures his vision of science and life.
These quotes were visually compressed by Motiva’s algorithm into a unique letter grid. As Motiva hangs on the wall, it slowly reveals the quotes hidden within the artwork.
In 2023, a single-piece Hebrew version of “The Seen and Unseen Beauty of Nature” was donated to the Madatech Museum of Science, Technology and Space (Haifa, Israel).
The artwork features an illustration of Ubiquitin, chosen by Prof. Ciechonaver to represent his life’s work. In the early 1980’s, Prof. Ciechanover and Prof. Avram Hershko discovered the function of Ubiquitin, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004.
Ubiquitin is a small regulatory protein found in most tissues of eukaryotic organisms (such as humans). The Ubiquitin was found to tag undesirable proteins so that the cell’s “grinder” can recognize them and break them down, enabling the cell to function normally.
To uphold the appearance of a traditional art piece, Motiva elegantly conceals its technological depth. 576 LEDs, motion and brightness sensors, a microprocessor, and a long-lasting battery for power supply remain hidden from the eye, creating an ever-lasting element of surprise.
“My passion lies in the unique overlap between biomedical research and the arts, including architecture, design, and the performing and visual arts. Motiva has been a wonderful partner on this journey, combining various elements to create innovative representations of my ideas.”
