Looking for Ideas

[catherine_jones1]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I'd like to draw on the

collective minds of photo.net to help me come up with some ideas for

radiographic art. I'm a hobbist photographer, but in real life I'm a

veterinarian and having seen some cool art images people have made with their

x-ray machines, I'd like to have a try. What I need are some ideas of what

might be cool to x-ray. I've seen a lot of flowers and seashells done, so I'd

like to try something different. My idea list includes fruit and other foods,

electronic parts, plastic dolls, shoes, skulls (I have a collection of skulls

from various species of animal), beads and trinkets, Christmas ornaments....

 

What are your ideas? The items to be radiographed should be low in metal

content (metal just shows up as bright white on x-rays). It would also help if

they are things that you find around the house, or are easy (cheap) to find,

borrow or scavenge. My largest film size is 11 inches x 17 inches, so the

item(s) can't be bigger than that.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Catherine

[bobatkins]

Pictures of cats are very popular here...

[Matt Laur]

Get a little edgy:

<br><br>

A chicken, some chicken wire, and a fork.

<br><br>

A cow hock/hoof, some barbed wire, and a steak knife.

<br><br>

Or maybe some tofu and some chopsticks (hmmm... low contrast!).

<br><br>

Interlocking antlers?

<br><br>

Finch skeleton in a bird cage?

<br><br>

Fish with tackle/bait?

<br><br>

Mice, mousetrap?

<br><br>

Hmmm. I detect an exhibit theme! No kittens were injured in the production of this comment.

[john_elder1]

Might want to check out the work by Man Ray. I think he experimented with this idea.

[Matt Laur]

For what it's worth, Catherine, I wasn't being a smart-ass. I'm not sure how illuminating or message-y you're looking to get here, especially given how you spend your day. It just strikes me that some of the hard, metallic things that end up intersecting with critters both wild and domestic might be an interesting study.

[catherine_jones1]

You guys are great!

 

Matt - I LOVE your ideas - a little edgy is a good thing! Logistically, some might be difficult to pull off, but they are good for sparking the imagination.

 

John - Thanks, I'll check out Man Ray and see if I can be inspired!

 

Bob - Hah, Hah...actually, I could do a cat eating a mouse! ;-)

 

Actually, I should also mention that I won't be using any live animals. Dosing an animal with radiation in the name of art isn't such a good idea. Also, I don't know too many people who would donate their deceased pet for art. I could use road kill - though road kill animals tend to be pretty broken. I have a friend who raises chickens for eggs, and I'm pretty sure she would donate a chicken to the cause the next time one dies. Cow parts are easy to obtain. I also have a couple skeletal models of horse limbs as well as a complete dog skeleton.

 

Keep those ideas coming!

 

Thanks,

Catherine

[Matt Laur]

Well, now that you mention road kill... a series of wheel cross sections (bicycle, truck spare, rollerblades) with skeletal bits and pieces from the road. Ducks, squirrels, chipmunks, whitetails, pigeons - traffic is rough!

<br><br>

And, on the theme from earlier: raccoon with trashcan lid? Hummingbird with feeder? A bat, with an aluminum bat? Dachsund with mustard bottle? OK, I'll stop now.

[dennisgg]

Might sound sick, but may be interesting with the road kill. What about electronic and mechanical devices (I know you mentioned electronics), like a child wind up mechanical to? There are many things and with scanning it to a flat bed scanner into a PC and using Photoshop and cropping to make abstract images. Doesn't have to be recognizable - a good composition of an interesting shape or texture works too. Colorize it, etc. Combine items together that may not ever be together normally, but could make it interesting (like a fork and a knife positioned to slice into a computer mouse as if to eat?) How about a laptop with someone's hands as if to be touch typing?

 

 

Have fun!

 

Dennis

[lex_jenkins]

Skulls are way cool. My dear departed terrier useta fetch skulls from nearby farms and ranches for me when I lived in a rural area. She didn't kill anything and didn't even chew on 'em but she literally knew where all the bones were buried. She'd drag 'em home and present 'em as a gift.

 

My longtime favorite model is a goat skull (several examples in my portfolio). I also have cat skulls and others but they tend to be fragile.

 

Skulls would be nifty to hide denser objects inside because some skulls are relatively less opaque. I don't know how well an unaltered mouse skeleton would appear inside a cat skeleton, but painting the mousie with something opaque might help.

 

BTW, Catherine, ever see the Tina Howe play "Museum"?

[albert_richardson1]

Nudes are popular on PhotoNet. Perhaps an edgy theme like "What Superman really saw!" Or perhaps "A look deeply within" or "Innermost feelings revealed" or better yet, "Secret smile" :-)

 

Actually wooden things might be interesting. You know a collage of ordinary things with different densities.

[catherine_jones1]

Thank you all for ideas!

 

I'm off to try some of them out. I'll post the best results to PN and give credit to the source of inspiration. It may take a while (a month or two) before I get any usable images as I tend to work slow at this stuff and it's going to take some experimentation.

 

Lex - Nope, haven't seen the play, but googled it and it sounds pretty entertaining. I've been to a few gallery openings that would fit perfectly with the play.

 

Thanks, thanks, thanks to everyone!

[lex_jenkins]

Most reviews of "Museum" talk about the plain white canvases and clothespins. To me, the most memorable scene was one in which an acquaintance of the artist who used found objects gathered from the woods described an odd experience during a hike in the woods. Talking about skulls and skeletons here reminded me of that play.