Museum-goers enjoy balloon sculptures of micro-organisms at Art and Science Day

Artist Jason Hackenwerth has come a long way from his days as a clown twisting balloons on the streets of St. Louis.

OK. Maybe not so long.

He's gotten rid of the clown outfit, but now he's twisting hundreds of balloons into giant micro-organisms.

His work was on display for a one-day exhibit Saturday in its full glory of pink, purple, orange, yellow and white at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. It was part of the Art and Science Day exhibition.

Museum volunteers climbed inside the balloon sculptures and moved around, much like puppeteers. The giant insect-like microorganisms floated around the museum greeting visitors, with their arms flailing, mandibles snapping and bodies jiggling.

Visitors took photos and asked questions.

“We were in the middle of another project when the sculptures walked by and my son was drawn instantly to them,” said Kevin Mullican, who visited the museum with his wife and son.

“It’s a great way to get kids to learn as opposed to walking through the hall pointing things out,” said Kevin's wife, Cameron Mullican.

Gabriella Casanjian's sons Andrew and Joshua couldn’t get enough of having themselves photographed inside the balloon costumes.

“(It's) a great way of looking at things in a three dimensional way,” she said.

Hackenwerth, a New York-based artist, said he admires the way people interpret his art.

“I didn’t start out to make them look like a squid or jellyfish, but people see those things in my sculptures,” said Hackenwerth, who was at first a bit insecure about how people would take to his work. “I was terrified that people would laugh and say you’re just a clown, but my paintings weren’t nearly as interesting as this."

In addition to the balloon fun, visitors to the exhibit lined up to look at hydra, planaria, daphnia and a dozen more microorganisms under microscopes. Visitors could also look at ant heads under a high-powered scanning electron microscope.

But it was the balloons or the man behind the balloons that drew at least as much attention.

Though his work is transient, Hackenwerth says the fact that balloons don’t last long makes them special and makes people want to come and see them.

“If you could see this for the rest of your life, you would come next week or next month, next year, or maybe never,” he said.

The museum’s program manager, Karen Ewald said the installations were a way to include art in science.

“In every part of Art and Science Day we want to get either performing artists, visual artists or musicians whose works have been inspired by science,” she said.