This exhibit aims to display the diversity of life on Earth, as well as the poetic story of evolution. Using data from the Tree of Life Web Project, the relationships of all major groups of organisms were arranged and reconstructed in a mandala-like pattern. As large and complicated as it looks, the resolution of this project is actually pretty small. Each branch represents one group, yet these groups are hugely diverse in themselves. Everything from men to mice, from whales to horses, is illustrated on a single branch - the Eutherians. The beetles, illustrated here by the horned scarab, are estimated to have more than five million species by themselves.

It is easy to confuse this bewildering variety with the handiwork of an "intelligent designer". The tips of the branches are so far apart and so different that, without the access to the right facts, it becomes hard to relate them to one another. With the right resolution and a little artistic touch, however, the links between the far-flung domains of life should be easy to see, even to the casual glance of an art appreciator.

This exhibit was supported by Sabanci University and the Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter in a program of reforms designed to better the standards of education in Turkey. For this reason, it is prepared in a bilingual format.

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