Simply fantastic!

Although they are usually smaller than a millimeter, tardigrades are among the greatest wonders of the Earth. Even under the most extreme environmental conditions, these 8-legged creatures, barely visible to the naked eye, can survive for long periods of time.

On Friday, March 1, at 19 p.m. Neuenbürg Castle opens the special exhibition “Fantastic world!“, in which not only tardigrades but also 24 other living wonders captured on microphotographs can be admired.

In this exhibition, which runs until June 16, visitors will discover an impressive microcosm with unique variations of shapes and colors. Many of these shapes serve as models for further research, such as a tiny diatom used in the wheel design of a major automobile manufacturer.

Here, science becomes an exciting and unforgettable visual experience. Inextricably linked with microphotography as an art and scientific performance is the name Manfred P. Kage. Together with the Institute for Scientific Photography and Manfred P. Kage, museum director Jacqueline Maltzahn-Redling conceived this exhibition, in which, despite all the aesthetics of the microphotographs, she is always concerned with “a more sensitive approach to our environment.”

Manfred P. Kage (*1935 in Delitzsch) is one of the world's pioneers of artistic and professional microphotography. His specialty is the synthesis of science and art. Through outstanding achievements in media and video art (e.g. proclamation of the "Optical Concert" in 1961) as well as groundbreaking inventions (including an eight-channel light organ in conjunction with "music for a landscape", color for scanning electron microscopy, etc.), he soon became one of the most important visionaries in this field. In the 1960s, he developed a surreal film for Salvator Dalí and coined the term " Science Art.

His participation in exhibitions ranges from the Biennale, EXPO 70 in Osaka, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Olympic Games to the ZKM and Karlsruhe, where he taught as a visiting professor at the Academy of Design.

Deutsche Post AG honored Kage with the special stamp series Microworlds.