Klaus Kemp - The master of the Victorian art of diatom arrangement
THE DIATOMIST is a short documentary about Klaus Kemp, master of the Victorian art of diatom arrangement.
Diatoms are single cell algae that create jewel-like glass shells around themselves. Microscopists of the Victorian era would arrange them into complex patterns, invisible to the naked eye but spectacular when viewed under magnification.The best of these arrangements are stunning technical feats that reveal the hidden grandeur of some of the smallest organisms on Earth. Klaus Kemp has devoted his entire life to understanding and perfecting diatom arrangement and he is now acknowledged as the last great practitioner of this beautiful combination of art and science. THE DIATOMIST showcases his incredible work.
Klaus Kemp arranges microscopic organisms into intricate patterns from (EFRAME)
Klaus Kemp
For 60 years, Klaus Kemp has been perfecting the once-forgotten art of diatom arranging. Using a microscope slide as a canvas, he shapes complex geometric patterns using diatoms – intricately beautiful microorganisms that are invisible to the naked eye.
Born in Berlin, Kemp was just ten years old when he moved to the UK in 1948, in the wake of the Second World War. He encountered diatoms a few years later through his work for a scientific-supplies company and was instantly hooked. Gradually, he began to acquire clients who commissioned slides from him, and for the past 30 years Kemp has been a fulltime maker of diatom compositions. He lives in the English county of Somerset.
What can you tell us about diatoms?
Klaus Kemp: They are single-celled plants with a silica shell, like a glass box. The shell has an ornately sculpted surface; we’re not sure why. Diatoms measure between 5 and 150 microns. You can barely see the biggest of them with the naked eye, but to view the smallest you need a powerful microscope. At the last count, there were over 600,000 diatom species, but there could easily be ten times as many – new ones are discovered all the time. Diatoms are found in all water sources and even in the atmosphere. They’re responsible for two-thirds of all gaseous exchange on the planet, more than that occurring in the Amazon rainforest.
What sparked your interest in arranging them?
Someone who was keen on microscopy showed me a slide with a diatom composition from the Victorian era, which was the heyday of the art form. I was stunned by its sheer beauty, and I desperately wanted to know how they had done it – so I began experimenting.
Victorian diatomists were competitors, so they never explained their techniques. I had to work mine out without advice. It took eight years to perfect and to develop a suitable glue to hold the diatoms in place. That glue is now my trade secret, but my wife is going to release the formula when I’ve passed away.
How do you go about making a composition?
I position the cleaned diatoms on a glass slide with my adhesive. I create the pattern under the microscope, and once I’m happy with it, I set the glue with heat. Then I add a high refractive index mountant, which makes the diatoms appear more prominent. Finally, I protect the slide with a thin coverslip, which is held down by a shellac ring that acts as a kind of frame.
What inspires the intricate patterns in your work?
They evolve from the material. I sit down with a selection of diatoms of various shapes. I place the first one, which determines how I position the next. Quite often I’m asked to make a specific form – a Christmas tree or an owl, for example – and people have also requested reproductions of Victorian diatom patterns, but I always make a slight change to avoid creating an exact copy.
Do you think of yourself as an artist?
Not really, because my work is strictly geometric, not free in form. I simply like orderly patterns.
What’s the largest pattern you’ve made?
My current record is a pattern containing 1,050 diatoms.
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