Nano-technology, used by scientists in the past to isolate cancer cells and purify water, is now the key to a towering figure of art. Artist Kimsooja’s Needle Woman was unveiled this week on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The effervescent glow of the plexiglass, produced by two polymers in active conflict, creates a hue akin to abalone and butterfly wings. And offers a light that is always changing.

Surprisingly, the needle does not dominate Cornell’s Arts Quadrangle but blends in, as Kimsooja says, “like a needle among paths of thread”. Originally the idea was for visitors to visit the space inside, one by one, but the artist came to the realization that the piece was better appreciated from without, forever outside.

It is on display until December 22 at Cornell University.