16 ft blue/orange
Your reality is defined by a visual phenomenon which is identified as an actual physical presence. A sight which appears to be real, but you know it to be false, is categorized as an illusion. Therefore it is possible to see an illusion as reality and vice versa. Since the truth lies in the eye of the beholder; you decide what is and what appears.
When you perceive an illusion, you think you see just a perceptual error, an imaginary version of reality. But it turns out that precisely this deceiving interpretation of your senses constitutes at the same time the reality you live in.
The movement of the celestial dome constantly changes the colour of the sky. Together the sun and the atmosphere paint the sky from a bright blue day to an orange twilight and after the blue hour into a dark night. With the reflection and refraction of the clouds the whole visible spectrum is perceptible in numerous different compositions.
But the visual system of your eye and brain complete the image you see. The afterimage effect colours the shadows in a complementary tint and colour is even visible when you close your eyes completely. The colour you perceive is a combination of consciously directing your gaze with your eyes and the unconscious interpretation of this sight by your brain.
A transparent blue layer paints it’s backdrop blue, you have a choice to look at it. The afterimage of blue’s complementary colour, orange, achieves the same effect. But in this second case the sight is not voluntary, you’re subject of the interpretations of your own visual system as a result of the context. What you see is at all times a combination of this actual and virtual way of perception, together they define your reality.
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This project was developed as part of the Dutch Invertuals exhibition ‘NO STATIC’.
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