I had an MRI scan last year and ever since I’ve wanted to see what it looked like inside my head. I know how it feels in there so it must be a real mess visually!!
I contacted the hospital and they said I can apply for a disk of the images. I felt certain that there would be some images on there that I could use for my project so I paid the £10 and picked the disc up.
When I fist loaded the disk into the computer, (apart from being relieved that I do in fact have a brain after all) I was fascinated by the images and decided that I could use these as part of this project about memory.
I have printed off one of the series of the MRI scans and made them 5 cm x 5 cm so that they will fit inside the bags.
The reason i have used these small clear bags is that i have been collecting them over the years, they were used to store marijuana at one time. I felt that the plastic bags consuming the image would represent how drugs have distorted my reality and warped the way my brain works.
I also want to expand this idea further by printing the images, instead of paper, onto acetate. The clips would be attached to a lightbox so that the light can shine through them in the same way X-rays are viewed.
I would also like to make a film from these images as this is the best way of capturing the movement in the brain. I plan to do this in iMovie.
I decided to be brave and get over my fear of using resin! I have wanted to try it out for a long time as I find the way it freezes its contents and makes them unreachable but still visible. I also really like the way the light filters through and distorts what it contains.
Again I have used a vaccum formed cast. What is exciting about using resin is that i can use my own personal memories and found objects.
Eloise kindly showed me how to work with resin and we recorded a video to document this.
I placed the images on top of each other in a very specific way, and once it had set i found that i was actually more pleased with the other side! The cast was very difficult to remove and i had to completely destroy the cast to get the resin out!
I am really pleased with how the resin has bled into the paper and has made it translucent, has made the ink on the postcard bleed and change colour.
Casting Process
I have made some casts with plaster using two of the earlier vaccum formed pieces to see what outcome this has.
The first one i tried was the top image of the keys inside the frames.
This came out really well but i feel that the piece would need something more added to it, perhaps some collage on the background and painted detail? The corner broke up when i was taking it out of the mould so this could be fixed this way under the collage.
The second one I was really happy with, it picked up almost all of the detail from the cast.
I noticed that now it is completely dry there are a few bits of dirt grease etc that were probably in the cast before i put the plaster in, which spoils it a little. I need to file the edges down to make this look more proffessional.
Vaccum forming part 2
This time I used black plastic to see if it was more interesting to work with rather than clear.
I must admit i prefer the clear ones as i can put images behind them and they distort
The first image is an old diary of mine which i have kept over the years, with some of the french keys placed on top.
I particularly like the way one of the keys is left in the plastic, could represent how some memories are supressed.
The second image is a variety of thongs which i have had since i was a teenager that are ridiculously small for me but too pretty to throw away.
I am interested in the way that the plastic has picked up very fine details for example the lace which is very intricate.
There are some keys dotted around the piece which are a reccuring theme in my work at the minute. I think that the keys alongside the knickers gives the work another layer of meaning as this could suggest chastity and frustration as well as them representing memories linked to the lingere.
I would like to fill this cast with resin to make it more visually interesting as i feel that the black plastic isnt very aesthetic.
I prefer the last two casts from a negative perspective where they are inside out. This makes it more challening for the viewer to look at and also gives the image more depth and the matte texture is more visually appealing than the shiny side.
Also the inside of the vaccum forms has a great deal more detail nd traces from the cast objects and some have even picked up fragments of fabric, ink from pieces of paper as well as the indent the pen made.
This is a very rushed and excited attempt at a description of an idea I just came up with for my degree show!
Keys hung from the ceiling above a tank of water (or liquid substance – jelly could be interesting!)- A nylon string suspends the keys; they are at different levels with a tank beneath them, which represents the brain. The keys unlock memories. Some of the keys are above the water; others are below the water (Could incorporate a mechanism so they move up and down, some slowly some fast, repetition of memories?) The keys are different shapes and sizes, each memory unique. Beside this have the vacuum formed images and other casts?
I’m now going to get on with the D-word, I thought I would just get this idea down; it’s definitely a keeper!
