R Block is a series of color photographic prints based on monochrome records from an abandoned medical research centre in New York State.

Subjects pose for pathological mug shots in an obscured history of occasions when disrupted lives were presented as special cases for medical scrutiny and collection. Domestic and institutional discourses intersect in anonymous portraits of 'dark celebrity'. Through a process of reworking with signs, symbols, stains and burnings, the images explore an ambiguous truth, a suggestion of untold narratives and identities.

C-prints, light boxes, text. Various dimensions of 6 x 4 ft (183 x 122 cm) & 24 x 20 in (61 x 51cm). Editions of 3.

© Karl Grimes. 1999