Should we always believe what we see right in front of us? Can you trust your senses? Has technology made things clearer or muddied the waters between reality and fiction? And is anything really as it seems? Illusions distort the senses and mystify our logical thinking. The human mind can be easily fooled.

The exhibition joins magic with psychology, optical illusions with scientific reasoning, and confusion with clarity. It investigates how perception underpins the way we see, feel, think, and understand the world. It shows how what we perceive is often radically different from the reality of what our eyes observe.

Illusions are both entertaining and educational. They represent one of the most idealized forms of collaboration between art and science. Artistic works that employ the techniques of illusion simply don’t work without the science behind them, and likewise, illusions cannot be described unless they are implemented in a way that people can experience them. This co-dependence implies a level of complete collaboration between artist and scientist.  

“Illusions show us that the world is not always as it seems, that our judgements are not always absolute, and that we should always be sceptical. These values are central to both the scientific and artistic pursuits - to keep questioning, to never take things for granted, and to always dig deeper to find the underlying truth.”

NEAL HARTMAN - Science Gallery Venice Director