A Bournemouth micro artist is celebrating after a sculpture measured at Bournemouth University was confirmed as the world’s smallest.
The piece, called the Yellow Smiley Face, cannot be seen by the human eye and was officially measured inside the university’s life sciences laboratory.
David A Lindon asked the team at Bournemouth University to help because the sculpture was far too small for standard equipment.
Associate Head of School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Dr Sarah Elliott, agreed to provide access to the laboratory so that the work could be examined.
Postgraduate researcher Jack Rose operated the high-resolution microscope and confirmed the sculpture’s size as 11.037 by 12.330 microns.
The artwork had been kept on the cover of a purple first-class stamp and placed on a micro dot on the eye of the late Queen to help locate it under the microscope.
David said he was grateful for the support provided by the university and noted that the sculpture is smaller than his previous record-breaking piece. He explained that its size is comparable to a particle of talcum powder, a human blood cell, mould spores, bacteria and a fog droplet.
A comparison was also made with sand taken from Bournemouth beach, where a single grain towered above the sculpture in the final image. David has since created a micro sculpture of a graduation certificate being held by a newly qualified student, set on a solid gold plinth and less than a millimetre wide.
Dr Sarah Elliott said the laboratory team were pleased to support the record attempt and hoped the work would inspire students to explore miniature forms of science and art.
The original stamp holding the Yellow Smiley Face is now displayed on a glass tower inside a sealed glass box.
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