Vital Organs

Abstract

My VCCAFS project researched how animation and interactivity can create a different experience of anatomy. I did this in collaboration with Dr. Alexandra Webb and Associate Professor Krisztina Valter from the ANU Medical school.

I began this project by re-animating sequences of magnetic resonance (MR) images and computed tomography (CT) scans. As my work developed, I wanted to link these depictions of internal body structures to more personal and emotive experiences of the body – for example, swimming and yoga – to explore the relationship between the body as scientific information and the body as lived experience. Animating simple medical procedures such as blood tests or having a pulse taken convey how internal information is accessed from the outside. To reflect this, I have used heart rate sensors and experimental projection techniques to incorporate the viewers’ own body in the work.

In 2016 I undertook a residency at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, where I created 360-degree videos to be experienced in Virtual Reality (VR). While VR is mostly used in anatomy for simulation and education, its strength for me as an artist is to create an experience that disconnects the viewer from their usual perceptions of the body in space.