Giselle Hobbs: Brain Storm

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Color photo of wooden sculptures outdoors against a backdrop of bare trees and grey skies, with dried out grass in the foreground.
Brain Medusozoans (2023), mycelium, mushrooms, wood, dimensions variable. photo / Giselle Hobbs
Still from a film with a galaxy background in black, blue, and purple with an overlay of images of mycelium networks and a distorted skull.
Still from Brain Storm (2023), animated film. video still / Giselle Hobbs
Color photo of two wood and mycelium sculptures. The wood resembles the stem of a mushroom and the mycelium mass resembles the cap of a mushroom.
Brain Medusozoans (2023), mycelium, mushrooms, wood, dimensions variable. photo / Giselle Hobbs
Digital animation still with a black and grey galaxy background and multiple animated skulls and human heads imposed over it.
Still from Brain Storm (2023), animated film. video still / Giselle Hobbs
Color photo of a wood and mycelium structure against a backdrop of bare trees and green bushes.
Brain Medusozoans (2023), mycelium, mushrooms, wood, dimensions variable. photo / Giselle Hobbs
Brain Medusozoans (2023), mycelium, mushrooms, wood, dimensions variable. photo / Giselle Hobbs Still from Brain Storm (2023), animated film. video still / Giselle Hobbs Brain Medusozoans (2023), mycelium, mushrooms, wood, dimensions variable. photo / Giselle Hobbs Still from Brain Storm (2023), animated film. video still / Giselle Hobbs Brain Medusozoans (2023), mycelium, mushrooms, wood, dimensions variable. photo / Giselle Hobbs

What do neural networks, the fungus on tree roots, and the structure of the cosmos share in common? All three consist of a system of nodes connected by filaments — neurons linked by synapses, trees passing nutrients through mycelium, and galaxies bridged by strands of matter. Brain Storm analyzes these structures within the context of my brain. Inspired by yearly experiences with brain MRIs where I waited apprehensively for the results of my scans, Brain Storm translates my brain into different materials and environments. I have grown, sculpted, rendered, and animated my brain, creating an ecosystem where disparate elements coalesce in unanticipated ways.

— Giselle Hobbs (M.F.A. '23)

Funded in part by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and \Art at Cornell Tech. 

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