Held in the Gaze

"A Picture of Health" is a well-known phrase that conjures up a wide range of imagery and interpretations across communities and scientific disciplines. Artwork on this theme created by five artist-scientist groups, the culmination of a collaborative project between MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London, reflects current research topics vital to human health.

Here, in the first of the five, the artist group made up of Lois Bentley, Rose Meng-Mei and Riko Yasumiya collaborated with doctoral student Jonny Jackson to look at the application of machine learning in biomedicine, specifically in relation to heart data. Held in the Gaze which consists of three pieces – Heart, Accuracy and Trust and Dream-Catcher Machine – explores the medical and algorithmic gaze. Heart is a robotic work simulating a heartbeat. It examines whether medical diagnostic imaging tools truly represent our internal physiology. Accuracy and Trust explores the tension between the need to acquire more data for greater accuracy and our trust in the system collecting it. Dream Catcher Machine creates a space for participants to enter, with images created by the artists during their learning journey with Jonny through the fields of medical imaging and data science.

"A Picture of Health" artwork can be seen at the Science Museum Lates in London this week

Written by Sophie Arthur and Lucy Brown

Sophie Arthur and Lucy Brown

Writers - former MRC LMS Science Communications Officer (SA) and Engagement Project Manager (LB)

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• Image of work created by Lois Bentley, Rose Meng-Mei and Riko Yasumiya, photographed by Jody Kingzett
• MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London UK
• Image copyright held by the photographer