Illusion & Engagement

What happens when optical illusions meet active engagement?

In 1966, Marina Apollonio’s ‘Spazio ad Ativazione Cinetica 6B’ was displayed in New York’s El Museo del Barrio. With a diameter of 15ft, this engaging piece of art invited visitors to get involved. They could walk around on the piece and feel disorientated by the 2D work that appeared 3D from many different angles. This sense of uncertainty and unease when faced with something as solid as the floor is something that I hope ‘Phantom Perspectives’ will achieve.

By creating art in which both visitor and the work can interlink, breaking down the boundaries of viewing wall hung pieces from a rigid distance speaks to a larger disillusionment with one’s reality. Although the colour scheme retains a degree of simplicity by using a monochrome palette, the effect of the circular pattern is quite the opposite in its effect on the viewer.

Such ideas displayed by Apollonio in the 60s has only gained greater recognition in recent decades, as the typical viewing experience is transformed to ensure a new kind of audience engagement. Nicolas Bourriaud argued that art was no longer to be simply hung in hallways and walked past, but something to be lived through, a reciprocated exchange between art and spectator. I believe that by exposing the capabilities of illusionist perspectives can create an exciting space where visitors can talk freely, move freely and enjoy freely.