Tear Collection Kit
Price range: € 200.00 through € 350.00
Every tear has a story. Capture yours and preserve that moment as a unique microscopic artwork.
The Imaginarium of Tears Tear Collection Kit allows you to collect a tear when it naturally occurs and send it back to Maurice Mikkers.
Your tear is prepared and photographed under the microscope, transforming a fleeting moment into a personal microscopic artwork connected to your own story.
- Collect your tear using the supplied kit
- Return the sample to Imaginarium of Tears
- Your tear is prepared and photographed under the microscope
- Receive the finished result in the format selected when ordering
Everything needed for collection is included: three collection pipettes, a reaction tube, clear instructions and a return envelope, so you can collect your tear when the right moment occurs.
Choose Digital, Print or Artwork below to select how you would like to receive your final piece.
Please note: some artworks shown in the product images are 80 × 80 cm exhibition versions mounted on Dibond. The Artwork version available through this webshop is supplied at 40 × 40 cm on Dibond.
As part of the wider Imaginarium of Tears project, finished microscopic tear artworks may be included in exhibitions, publications and project presentations together with your first name and an abstracted, non-identifying version of the story connected to the tear. If you prefer your artwork not to be included, you can opt out in writing before production begins. By completing your purchase, you agree to the Terms and Conditions presented at checkout.
Made for a tear with a story you want to keep.
A farewell, a wedding, the arrival of a child or another personal milestone can become the story connected to your microscopic tear artwork. The kit lets you collect the genuine tear first; the microscopy and artwork can follow later.
Memorial & remembrance
A quiet way to preserve a tear connected to someone you miss, a farewell or a private moment of remembrance.
Explore remembrance artwork →
Weddings & commitment
Turn a genuine tear from a wedding day or another shared milestone into a personal artwork.
Explore wedding keepsakes →
Birth & new beginnings
Preserve a tear from a parent or loved one connected to childbirth, becoming a parent or welcoming a child.
Explore birth keepsakes →Every Tear Has a Story
A tear can appear during sadness, joy, frustration, laughter, relief, loss or a moment that is difficult to put into words. The moment may last only seconds, while the memory connected to it can remain for years.
The Imaginarium of Tears Tear Collection Kit was created to preserve one of those moments in a different form.
You collect your own tear when it naturally occurs and return the sample to Maurice Mikkers. The tear is then prepared and photographed under the microscope, creating a personal microscopic artwork originating from your own tear and story.
How It Works
- Choose your artwork. Select Digital, Print or Artwork depending on how you would like to receive the final result.
- Receive the collection kit. Everything needed for collection is included: three collection pipettes, a reaction tube, instructions and a return envelope.
- Collect your tear. Use one of the supplied pipettes when a meaningful or personal moment occurs.
- Return the sample. Transfer the collected tear into the supplied reaction tube and return it to Imaginarium of Tears.
- Microscopic preparation and photography. Maurice Mikkers prepares the sample and photographs the resulting microscopic structures.
- Your artwork is created. The microscopic photograph is processed into your personal artwork.
- Receive the final result. Your artwork is delivered in the format selected when ordering.
Never collected a tear before? The kit is designed specifically for this process. Three collection pipettes give you several opportunities to collect your tear, with step-by-step instructions guiding you through the collection and preservation process.
Returning Your Sample
Return shipping is arranged and paid for by the customer. This applies to returns from the Netherlands as well as international returns.
The customer is responsible for choosing an appropriate shipping method and, where applicable, arranging tracking, insurance and any required customs documentation or declarations. The supplied return envelope can be used to package the sample for its return journey.
Turnaround Time
Once your tear sample has physically arrived at Imaginarium of Tears, we aim to complete the microscopy, image processing and production of your artwork within four weeks.
Occasionally, additional time may be needed due to the number of samples being processed or because a suitable crystallisation and imaging result requires additional preparation time. If we expect the process to take longer than four weeks, we will contact you as soon as possible and provide an estimated additional production time.
Choose Your Artwork
Digital
Your collected tear is prepared, photographed under the microscope and transformed into a high-resolution digital artwork.
- Microscopic preparation and photography of your collected tear
- Personal digital artwork
- 2000 × 2000 pixels
- 300 dpi JPG file
- Suitable for digital use and high-quality printing up to approximately 20 × 20 cm
The Print version combines your digital artwork with a professionally produced photographic print.
- Microscopic preparation and photography of your collected tear
- Digital artwork: 2000 × 2000 pixels at 300 dpi
- 40 × 40 cm photographic print
- Printed on Fuji Professional DPII Lustre paper
Artwork
The Artwork version turns your microscopic tear image into a finished physical artwork ready to display.
- Microscopic preparation and photography of your collected tear
- Digital artwork: 2000 × 2000 pixels at 300 dpi
- 40 × 40 cm fine-art photographic print
- Mounted on 3 mm Dibond
- Matte finish to reduce reflections
- Hanging support system mounted on the back
Please note: some artworks shown in the product images are 80 × 80 cm exhibition versions mounted on Dibond. The Artwork version available through this webshop is supplied at 40 × 40 cm on Dibond.
What Is Inside the Collection Kit?
- Collection instructions
- 1 reaction tube
- 3 collection pipettes
- Return envelope
The instructions guide you through collecting the tear fluid and transferring it into the reaction tube so that the sample can later be prepared for microscopy.
Your Tear Under the Microscope
To the naked eye, a tear appears to be a small transparent drop of liquid. Under the microscope, it can reveal intricate lines, patterns and crystal-like structures that would otherwise remain invisible.
During preparation and drying on a microscope slide, material within the tear forms microscopic structures that can be photographed in detail. Every sample produces its own visual result, influenced by the individual tear, its composition, preparation, drying process and surrounding conditions.
The microscopic pattern is not a scientific reading of the emotion that caused the tear. Its meaning comes from the real moment and personal story connected to the collected sample.
From a Moment to an Artwork
A tear may be connected to saying goodbye to someone, laughing uncontrollably, reaching a personal milestone, experiencing frustration, remembering someone important, celebrating a birth or marking another moment that matters to you.
Imaginarium of Tears connects that personal moment with microscopy and photography. The tear becomes a physical trace of the experience, while the photograph preserves its temporary microscopic structure.
Your moment. Your tear. Its microscopic landscape.
Part of Imaginarium of Tears
Imaginarium of Tears is an ongoing art and microscopy project by Maurice Mikkers, a Netherlands-based scientific visualization researcher, cross-disciplinary artist and photographer.
The project explores the microscopic structures of crystallized human tears and the personal stories connected to them through microscopy, scientific imaging and photography.
Finished microscopic tear artworks may become part of the wider Imaginarium of Tears project and may be included in exhibitions, publications and project presentations together with your first name and an abstracted, non-identifying version of the story connected to your tear. If you prefer your artwork not to be included, you can opt out in writing before production begins.
The work has been exhibited internationally and featured by publications and broadcasters including National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, WIRED and BBC World Service.
Every tear has a story. Capture yours.
Additional information
| Kit Version | Digital, Print, Artwork, Replacement |
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