Illusion Art in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Art in Paradise introduces itself like this:

An illusion is a sensory perception that causes a distorted or altered impression. Since illusion is not the opposite of reality, the effect of illusion one experiences is neither true nor false.

The illusion of depth in paintings and installation art are presented on two dimensional surfaces by combining a variety of art elements, special techniques and professional skills. This transforms ordinary artworks into extraordinary three-dimensional interactive environments.

Art in Paradise Chiangmai welcomes you into the world of fantastic illusion art, where you can create your own activities and be fully immersed in the interactive 3D artworks.

That makes it sound quite serious but this is not so much a museum as a playground. We had a great time playing around with the various pictures and setups. For some it was obvious how to put ourselves into the picture, but for others we had to be a bit more creative. The museum was really quiet when we visited (apart from a group of schoolkids at the beginning but they soon overtook us) so we had loads of time to take photos and act silly without a queue of people waiting. On the down side it meant that there wasn’t usually anyone around to take a picture with both of us in.

Remember that everything here is flat – including the ‘picture frames’.

20140105-220652.jpgAndrew fending off Jaws

20140105-220658.jpgSharing a coke with a polar bear

20140105-220709.jpgGiraffe escaping from her frame

20140105-220718.jpgJulie making friends with a panda

20140105-220725.jpgWiping a window…

20140105-220731.jpgVan Gogh’s sunflowers

20140105-220738.jpgUs with a very up-to-date shepherdess

20140105-220745.jpgAndrew meditating in a lotus pond

20140105-220752.jpgJulie on a rope bridge

20140105-220758.jpgLooking at the rope bridge from the ‘wrong’ angle gives an idea of how these are set up

20140105-220806.jpgAndrew and a giant toilet roll

20140105-220813.jpgIn the 3D room

20140105-220818.jpgMagic carpet

20140105-220823.jpgPuppet Andrew

20140105-220831.jpgAngel Julie

20140105-220838.jpgTarget practice!

20140105-220844.jpgSnowboarding

20140105-220851.jpgAndrew on the cover of Time magazine

20140105-220859.jpgGiant Andrew and tiny Julie in the final exhibit

Top tips for getting the most out of a visit… Be willing to be silly, take a full size tripod if you have one (my mini gorillapod didn’t work for most of the scenes as the perspective only works when looked at from eye level) or a big group of friends.

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