Mammary Mountain (Early Version)

An intimate performative experience that explores dis-ease within the body through the experience of breast cancer

Mammary Mountain is an intimate immersive virtual reality(VR) experience that explores dis-ease within the body during breast cancer and the body’s relationship to the broader context of the land. This new interactive experience tells the stories of patients and survivors healthcare struggles, and the hidden experiences of breast cancer treatment.

Mammary Mountain is a unique experience set in a doctor’s office. As ‘patients,’ the audience wears a special haptic jacket, sits in a bespoke chair shaped like mammary glands, and uses a VR headset to experience this intimate performance. The artists hope this work ignites new public engagement, ultimately resulting in a more nuanced and holistic understanding of the breast cancer treatment experience.

The piece is explored through illustrations, poetry, personal story, and field recordings of Tara Baoth Mooney, created while going through cancer treatment herself. Mooney recorded the steps from the bed in her room to the radiotherapy department, recording the machines inside and the birds and water outside. These recorded sounds and drawings have been further brought to life through the strong visual 3D landscape and evocative animation created by Maf’j Alvarez using VR. It is then embodied through a haptic garment, which vibrates in areas of the body affected by pain or discomfort mapped to the breast lymph nodes of the chest, underarm and back. The project concept, narrative framework and content development, story collection and editing, grant writing, community outreach and workshop development, staging, and promotion, as well as overall project production, has been done by Camille Baker.

It opens NEoN Digital Art 16 Days of Activism campaign, in Dundee November 25th-Dec 2nd
https://neondigitalarts.com/mammary-mountain/

This VR immersive experience exposes the idea of ‘dis-ease’ within the body and the body’s relationship to the broader context of the land. The artists hope this work ignites new public engagement, ultimately resulting in a more nuanced and holistic understanding of the experience.