Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts

The essay examines the configuration of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the scientific laboratory and in selected artworks. By drawing upon fieldwork undertaken in MRI labs and artists' ateliers, I argue that MRI has a "look" in the same way that the portrait has—that is, it has the capacity of being performative, thus resisting its being regarded as a transparent window onto the self. As will be shown, the look of MRI is acoustic more than visual, for it is based on the aural components of the examination, rather than on MRI images alone.