52 AAOSNow January2011 YourAAOS

Whenhe’snottreatingpatients,Mark D. Chase, MD,oftenvisitsNewYorkCity’sartmuseums—theMetropolitan,theMuseumofModernArt,theGuggenheim,theNeueGalerie,andothers.OnSundaymornings,hebrowsestheChelseafleamarket.

“I’vealwaysbeenanarten-thusiast,”saidDr.Chase,anor-thopaedicsurgeonwhopursuedhisinterestinsculptureduringhisresidencyinBoston,wherehefre-quentedboththeMuseumofFineArtsaswellastheIsabellaStuartGardinerMuseum.“Isetupastu-diointhebasementofthehouseIwasrentingandmademobilesàlaAlexanderCalder.”

IngrouppracticeinMontclair,N.J.,since1989,Dr.Chasenowpursuesbothhispassionsintheoperatingroom(OR)where,forthelast18years,he’sbeensculpt-ingminiaturefaces,usingtheexcesspolymethylmethacrylate(PMMA)fromsomejointreplace-mentsurgeriesrequiringbonecement.

Whenusedforimplantfixationduringhipandkneereplacementsurgeries,PMMAcantake12to

15minutestoharden.“Duringthelast2minutes,thecementisjustgettingfirmenoughtoholdaform,”hesaid.That’swhenhemoldsthecementinto1½-to3-inchfaces.Heusesvarioussurgi-calinstrumentstomakeimpres-sionssuggestingfacialfeaturesontheforms.

Thesculpturesdonotrepresentactualpatients,andmostarefash-ionedwhileDr.ChaseisassistinghispartnerJohn F. Mendes, MD. Manyofthefacesareinspiredbyimagesandartworksfromthemu-seumsDr.Chasefrequents.“Ioftenusetheseworksasstimuli,butothertimesIemployamorefree-formconstruction,”hesaid.

Dr.Chasedoesn’tconsiderhim-selfanartist,nordoeshetakehissculpturestooseriously.Hedoes,however,admitthatthemediumandthe“studio”inwhichhissculpturesoriginatearecertainlynovelinthehistoryofart.

“Creatingrealartishardwork;itinvolvesconception,planning,andexecution.Whohastimeforthat?”saidDr.Chase.“Mysculp-turescanbestbedescribedasoutsiderart—artthatresultsfromone’sownlittlecreativebursts.Thesecementfacesarefun;theytake2minutestomake,andtheyalwaysgetachucklefrommypartnerandoperatingroomstaff.MaybewhenI’mretiredI’llhavetimetodevotetomaking‘real’art,

butfornowit’sjustabitofartsandcrafts—ashort‘breaktime’intheOR.”

Forty Feet of Faces In2010,Dr.Chasecreatedaper-manentdisplayforthePMMAfacesthatupuntilthattimehehadbeencollectinginmanyofhisMcCoypotteryvases.Usinga3.2mmdrill,4.5mmtap,anddowelscrews,alongwiththehelpofacarpentertofabricate20frames,hemountedthefaces.Theresultwasa40-footlinearin-stallationcomprisedof140facialreliefs.

AsdescribedonhisWebsite,www.bonecementart.com,Dr.Chase’sForty Feet of Faces“of-fersafascinatingthree-dimensionalcommentaryontheephemeralna-tureofthehumanbody—itsfragil-ity,itsresilience,andtheinnatede-sire,sharedbymedicineandart,towrestaviewofhumanity’smanyfacesfromtheinexorablegraspofoursharedmortality.”

“Eachfaceisunique,andtheproperwaytoviewthemishori-zontallyateyelevel.That’showIcameupwiththename—theinstal-lationneedstorunlinear,that’stheonlywaytoseeeachface’sindi-viduality,”Dr.Chaseexplained.

Theinstallationcurrentlyresidesinanold,renovatedbarnbehindhishouse.Dr.Chasehopestoshareitwithhispatientsandthepublicsomeday,aswellashiscolleagues,perhapsatanorthopaedicmeeting.

“Orthopaedicsurgeryisprimar-ilyatechnicalexercise,butitisalsocraftyandofteninvolvessomecreativity,”hesaid.“IthinkAAOSmemberswouldenjoyseeingwhathasbeendonewiththatlastglobofamorphouscement.Someofthepiecesareveryinteresting,butmostlyit’sbeenfun.Andwhenthefacefinallyturnsto‘stone,’it’sabouttimetoirrigateandclose.”

NOW

Maureen Leahy is assistant man-aging editor of AAOSNow.She can be reached at leahy@aaos.org

Art(?)intheOR!ByMaureenLeahy

Surgeonfindstimeforcreativityintheoperatingroom

YourAAOS January2011 AAOSNow 53

Outside

the Office

Mark D. Chase, MD

FortyFeetofFaces is a linear installation of the miniature faces Dr. Chase has molded from excess PMMA.

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