Today (and Possibly Tomorrow)

a wide angle photo taken from one corner of a large off-white room with ornate molding and vertically-oriented murals displaying different scenes from medical history like autopsies, deliveries, and academies. 2 murals are visible on the walls and another 2 in a large mural above a closed fireplace. A sleek wooden display case with clear glass panels rests in the center of the grand room atop a black, white and green marble stone floor. Inside the display case rests 30 small 3d-printed candies in a variety of colors. The room has two large doorframes that lead to other hallways in rooms in the museum.a medium-wide angle photo in a large off-white room with ornate molding and 4 visible vertically-oriented murals displaying different scenes from medical history like autopsies, deliveries, and academies. A sleek wooden display case with clear glass panels rests in the center of the grand room atop a black, white and green marble stone floor. Inside the display case rests 30 small 3d-printed candies in a variety of colors.a medium close-up photo taken a couple feet outside of a glass display case with a black felt bottom where 30 unique 3d-printed candies rest in 3 rows of 10. Each candy, with roughy the volume of a quarter machine gumball, sits near a white label with a specific date written on it.a medium close-up photo of a glass display case with a black felt bottom where 30 unique 3d-printed candies rest in 3 rows of 10. Each candy, with roughy the volume of a quarter machine gumball, sits near a white label with a specific date written on it.a close-up photo showing a few 3d-printed candies resting inside a glass display case with a black felt bottom. where 30 unique 3d-printed candies rest in 3 rows of 10. Each candy, with roughy the volume of a quarter machine gumball, sits near a white label with a specific date written on it.a close-up photo showing a 3d-printed candy resting inside a glass display case with a black felt bottom. The sandstone-textured candy is a cotton-candy blue with a smattering of oranges and whites. It is an abstract organic shape like multiple elephant tusks extruding from a blob. A white label is pasted in front of it that reads the date "12.13.21."a close-up photo showing a 3d-printed candy resting inside a glass display case with a black felt bottom. The sandstone-textured candy is colored like a pastel volcano with a smattering of oranges, greens, whites, and an electric orange-red. It is an abstract organic shape like chewed bubble gum or hot glass that has been pulled in a few directions and left to sag. A white label is pasted in front of it that reads the date "12.13.21."a close-up photo showing a 3d-printed candy resting inside a glass display case with a black felt bottom. The sandstone-textured candy is colored lime-green, yellow, burnt sienna, and charcoal gray. It is an abstract organic shape with decent symmetry and a cavity that makes it look somewhat like a toppled vase. A white label is pasted in front of it that reads the date "9,7,21."

(8 images. alt text included)

 

Today (and Possibly Tomorrow) a series of 30 3d-printed candies; each a material record of an invisible chronic illness created from a ritualized 3D modeling exercise. Borrowing technical and pragmatic strategies from medical illustration and art therapy, each model is made while experiencing the sensation it attempts to outwardly represent. While advancements in medical imaging and artificial intelligence invite human eyes to scour the forms and processes that make up our inner constitution, the unlocatable subjective experiences that fall outside of this optical colonization call for different coaxing and coping strategies. Today (and maybe tomorrow) sets forth a methodology for establishing a hard scale for an otherwise all-consuming feeling; allowing it to coagulate as a singular object that rests, however momentarily, outside oneself.

 

Special thanks to William Hu and Sugar Lab LLC for project support.

 

(30 models)

Digital models made in Blender, explorable here via Sketch Fab.

 

 

Chronic Uncertainty: Sweetening the Search Process in Self Diagnosis virtual artist talk hosted by Art & Care. May 27th, 2022. Captioned.