Glass Art as Bridge: Towards Democratising MRI Sequence Development

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23726/cij.2026.1826

Keywords:

co-creation, experimental innovation, SciArt, MRI sequence development, glass art, gammaSTAR, situated expertise, digital medicine literacy, democratizing science

Abstract

This article examines transdisciplinary co-creation in the STEAM Imaging VI residency, where glass art and the novel platform gammaSTAR contributed to democratised Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) sequence development for upper-secondary Digital Medicine students (n=23). Adopting a "terroir" approach to science communication, the residency and STEAM workshop leveraged the institute’s scanners, software, and partnerships as situated expertise, favouring context-specific interventions over scalability. In a two-day program, students, an artist-physicist, and MR researchers, controlled sequences on no-field/table-top low-field and 3T research scanner systems, scanned waste glass and water-immersed phantoms, and linked MR signals to Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) glass sculptures as epistemic tools for experiential physics. Pre-/post-Likert surveys (n = 19–22) revealed large gains in MR sequence understanding (10% to 82% positive) and understanding of artists’ decision processes (10% to 77% positive), with stable art-science enabler views (65%–68%). Teacher feedback confirmed a shift in school students’ engagement, from observers to active sequence controllers, facilitating curricular connections. Building on the artist’s residency‑based glass phantom experiments, the workshop invited students into MRI sequence control, and the resulting phantoms informed a 2026 SciArt exhibition that carried this co‑creative work into a public setting. This experimental innovation strengthens digital medicine literacy and models a situated, terroir-based SciArt infrastructure for collaboration and context-specific democratisation of MRI sequence development.

Author Biographies

Bianka Hofmann, Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS, Max-von-Laue-Str. 2, 28359 Bremen, Germany

Bianka Hofmann specializes in transdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of science, art, technology, and communication, facilitating innovation and knowledge transfer across domains, institutions, and sectors. She seeks to cultivate reflective, emotionally engaged relationships with science and technology while maintaining a critical perspective on their complexities and societal implications.
Art is central to her work as both an emotional anchor and a means of exploring emerging technologies and societal developments. Her approach integrates artistic methods into scientific contexts—and vice versa—to build shared understanding, open new conceptual directions, and extend the reach of research and creative practice. Through context-sensitive, locally rooted art–science collaborations, she creates spaces where diverse forms of knowledge intersect, dialogue emerges, and new perspectives can take shape. Her practice supports research institutions, technology-oriented organisations, and artists in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, communicating complex developments, and engaging diverse communities in innovation processes.
Hofmann produces experimental moving-image works, interactive exhibits, and large-scale 3D installations and conducts SciArt workshops at renowned institutions and international art, science, and technology events, including the Frankfurter Kunstverein, the German Museum of Technology in Berlin, Ars Electronica Center and Festival in Linz, the UCLA Art | Sci Center, SIGGRAPH Asia, and the Raw Science Film Festival. Her collaborative practice brings together expertise, infrastructure, education, communication, and innovation, supporting knowledge exchange, talent development, responsible technology engagement, and the participation of diverse communities in research and development processes.
With degrees in biology and comparative religion and training as a cognitive behavioral coach, she conducted and published research on behavioral interaction and interspecies communication. This interdisciplinary background provides a bridge between her academic research and her transdisciplinary practice, shaping her approach to collaboration, communication, and science engagement.

The words of dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch—“I’m not interested in how people move, but what moves them”—are central to Hofmann’s approach.

Gregory Alliss, The University of Edinburgh, Glass Studio, Edinburgh College of Art, 74 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9DF, United Kingdom

Artist Biography

Transdisciplinary artist Gregory Alliss has a background in medical physics, engineering, and art. He specialises in making sculptural glass artworks using the kiln casting technique.

Having previously gained an MFA in Glass at the University of Edinburgh, he continues to work there, undertaking an interdisciplinary PhD. A PhD-rooted studio practice, experimenting with contaminated waste glass in glass art production to support the development of a sustainable studio practice.

Gregory’s recent artistic practice has been heavily focused on using recycled glass from Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) from old-style televisions. His current work has expanded on this to investigate the production of glass art made from highly contaminated waste glass that is not traditionally used by glass artists.

Developing the techniques to use these contaminated glasses has blurred the boundaries between his creative and engineering worlds. His innovative processes challenge conventional limitations to expand aesthetic and conceptual possibilities in contemporary glass casting. The glass objects he creates are part artistry and part material science.

Gregory has exhibited in UK and Europe, notable at Collect in London 2022 & 2023, Ireland Glass Biennale 2019, and the British Glass Biennale 2022. He has presented at several conferences and has been published in journals and catalogues. His artworks are also in private collections in the UK.

Context Statement for Current Works

Gregory’s current works are made by combining a layer of recycled contaminated waste CRT glass with a layer of conventional clear studio casting glass in an ‘in-kiln’ kiln casting process. The juxtaposition of the CRT glass and the transparent glass creates a highly visible boundary that references boundaries in weather formations and the wider landscape. Creating this boundary line in the objects is uneasy equilibrium based on a delicately balanced experimental process, which pushes the interconnectedness and interplay between contrasting colours and textures of the different types of glass. This approach offers new directions for kiln-cast glass, especially within conceptual and sculptural practices where material behaviour is integral to meaning.

Artist Quote

“Glass is puzzle! A ubiquitous material cherished for its transparent properties. My work attempts to draw the viewer inside the glass. I want the viewer to have an experience beyond the object’s shiny façade.”

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Published

2026-09-16

How to Cite

Hofmann, B., & Alliss, G. (2026). Glass Art as Bridge: Towards Democratising MRI Sequence Development. CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation, 10(2), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.23726/cij.2026.1826

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026): Special Issue on Co-Creation

Section

Part 2: Spaces and Structures

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Copyright (c) 2026 Bianka Hofmann, Gregory Alliss

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