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The first collaboration between neurophysiologist Mark Lythgoe and visual
artist Jayne Gouge promotes a new platform in the arena of photographic
portraiture. Utilising the technology of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
the work creates an extraordinary bridge between what we see and the way
we see it. This exhibition was held at The Gallery, Institute of Child
Health in March 1999.
Maps
of individuality
Functional MRI scans of the brain create images that "light up"
when a subject thinks, positively identifying particular areas of brain
activity, and are used in the Great Ormond Street Hospital to provide
invaluable information about childhood illness. The exhibition presents
highly evocative images, in which the scientific compass points to a future
when maps of our individuality may be contained in a single image. Functional
images of Jayne and Mark's brain integrated with photographs of more familiar
images, introduce what is possible today and the implications for the
future.
MRI
Scanner
The images in this project are created non-invasively, using the powerful
magnetic field generated by the MRI scanner. When inside the scanner,
the magnetic centres of the countless water molecules in the body tend
to align and rotate like a gyroscope. The final MRI image is obtained
by detecting radio waves that are emitted from the rotating molecular
magnets of the water molecules in the subject.
Mark
F Lythgoe
Mark Lythgoe is a MRI neurophysiologist based in the RCS Unit of Biophysics
at the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Mark has used MRI technology to develop new techniques for investigating
stroke. Interested in the combination of art and science he has collaborated
on projects with artist Helen Sear - which was published in Coil - the
Journal of Moving Imaging and also with film maker Andrew Kotting.
Jayne E Gouge
Jayne Gouge is a fine arts graduate and a sculptress, who has exhibited
nationally in the past seven years. She has taught in both design and
communication, and researched design trends for industry. Jayne's work
deals with metaphorically disclosing intangible aspects of personal biographies.
Commonly working with a collection of materials including soap, sugar
and iron she aims to converge the points whereby distinct familial influences
meet with the peculiar. This methodology now inspires the utilisation
of MRI technology as a new medium in association with ancestral icons.
Acknowledgement
Our special thanks to Professor David Gadian from the Royal College of
Surgeons Unit of Biophysics at the Institute of Child Health and Great
Ormond Street Hospital and Siemens Medical Engineering for their support.
Copyright:
JE Gouge and MF Lythgoe
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