This article stems from a broader research project that explored the aesthetics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Here the author focuses on firsthand experience of undergoing an MRI as an experimental subject within two different laboratory projects. The self-produced video created after the two examinations, 265 Looping Snapshots , muses on the role played by MRI sound and images, the notion of surveillance and the experience of undergoing a scan. The video attempts to resist the reading of MRI as a “vision machine” for surveillance purposes. Far from being a mere representation of an inner condition unavailable to the senses, MRI images slowly become more abstract—a pulsating, rhythmical light from which other forms can emerge.

ABSTRACT The author assesses the role played by the surface in selected nanoscience and nanotechnology (NN) practices by examining the interaction between surfaces and their viewers. In NN, issues of scale and perception challenge those involved in science-art projects, forcing them to engage with nano-objects and surfaces by using either highly specialized instruments or metaphors. The most interesting examples of nano-based artworks give the audience the opportunity to interact with NN through haptic sensing.