MRI | RMX
a collaboration with Karl Kliem
8 channel audio and video performance, 2008 + 2009

Version 1 was performed at the CMYK Festival (Boulder) in 2008
Version 2 was performed at TodaysArt (The Hague) in 2009

MRI | RMX is a multichannel sound and video performance based on magnetic resonance imaging and the sonic patterns created by MRI medical scanners.

In early 2007, I underwent a series of tests for reoccurring dizziness, which included an MRI scan of my brain. I was immediately taken by the unique sounds of the device, which are pulsing, rhythmic patterns controlled through fractional divisions in the speed of a powerful magnetic field. The resonating electronic sounds were intensely visceral, with their variations over a 20 minute cycle creating a compelling auditory reference to a conceptually abstract imaging process. With the permission of the hospital, I returned months later to record the sounds of the scanner.

MRI | RMX uses the source recordings as a basis to re-create the spatial placement of the original patterns, and subsequently evolves them into a 40 minute composition which explores new combinations of the tones.

Working in collaboration with the audio are live visuals by Karl Kliem which reveal MRI scan images through thin ‘slices’ synchronized with the directional movements of the sounds.

MRI | RMX is intended as a re-creation of a private experience in a public environment: relating a medical procedure which is typically experienced in isolation, under psychological stress, and in most cases with earplugs or headphones to disguise the scanner sounds. It investigates the psycho-acoustical effects of the magnetically produced sounds, and draws relationships between the auditory side-effects of scientific processes and contemporary musical conventions.