ILLUSION: Can You Believe It When You See It?

Is anything really as it seems? After all, the human mind can be very easily fooled.

ILLUSION: Nothing Is As It Seems, a mind-boggling next exhibition, will distort your senses and challenge you to think of the world in a new way. ILLUSION features intriguing exhibits that deceive the eyes of the visitor, showing that what we perceive is often radically different from the reality we observe.

Here are some exhibits within ILLUSION that you won’t want to miss:

You. Here. Now. This computer constantly follows the websites of local news organizations and downloads all the visual imagery it comes across. When a visitor pauses in front of the screen, their portrait, composed of all the news images available at that moment, appears. (Capture that image with your cell phone—it’s the ultimate selfie!)

Significant Birds. Twelve bird cages, each containing a small speaker playing a chirping sound, are arranged in a circle. When all twelve speakers are out of sync, all the listener hears is chirping. When they sync up and are in perfect time with one another, the listener hears human speech. Can you figure out why?

Bottle Magic. An ordinary bottle has an object inside it that does not appear to fit through the mouth of the bottle. The bottle is completely ordinary, and all of the objects are still fully functional—for instance, the deck of cards is still playable with all 52 cards. From a baseball to shoes in a bottle, the question is, how did they get in there?

Check out ILLUSION: Nothing Is As It Seems at the Fleet from May 10, 2014, to January 11, 2015.