When does science become art?

This is the question Charlotte Bolliger, curator of the fourth "Art in Science" exhibit at IBM Research in Zurich, asks art patrons who visit the 27 pieces currently on display at the Nobel Prize lab.

"In my day-to-day job at IBM, I have the privilege to work with our scientists as they look to publish scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals," said Bolliger.

She adds, "During this process, I'm exposed to brilliant scientific results, which at the same time are also pieces of art. And so we thought it would be nice to share some of these images in a larger format. It was around 2006 that we started to think about an exhibition, at the same time we were looking for a distinctly local favor to mark the 50th anniversary of our laboratory."

The current exhibit opened on 25 January with 53 attendees, a new record. Pieces span from across several scientific fields, but most are predominately in the nano-realm.

"One scientist's mishap at the nanoscale is another person's Picasso," said Bolliger 

The Art in Science exhibitions, which take place every two years, have become a tradition at IBM Research in Zurich.

"The response has surpassed my initial expectations. In fact, this year we had some scientists creating exclusive pieces, which was a nice surprise."

The exhibit will be available to IBM employees and guests of employees until May 2014 in Rueschlikon, 15 minutes from Zurich. If you can't make it, check out the slide show below with some of the submissions.

Can't see the slide show below? Click here.