The McGurk Effect – When Senses Collide
Picture this: Someone looks at you and utters the phrase “Fa fa black sheep”…Wait; did you just hear that correctly? Yes you did; however, the reason the sentence may have sounded strange is because you didn’t see it correctly.
Say again?
Based on a perceptual phenomenon called the McGurk effect, our brains interpret what we hear based not only on audio input, but also on visual input. Therefore if the person speaking to you mouths the word “fa” while speaking the word “ba” you will only hear the word your brain visually interprets. Unlike optical illusions which can cease to work after you’ve figured them out, the McGurk effect is pretty much impossible to get around; that is, unless you close your eyes…
This phenomenon is certainly not a recent discovery, but not a whole lot of people are aware of it. Check out the BBC video below. It explains the concept much better than we ever could!
No Photoshop!
Optical Illusions As Installations
Flesh, breakfast food, a lawn chair are in substitue of traditional canvas for the unconventional artistry of Alexa Meade. Fidgeting with the gears between perception and reality; it is quite a remarkable spectacle when the viewer resolves the tension of this interplay. At first glance you may assume these images are products of photoshop trickery, and amazed when you realize the situation is quite the contrary, actually.
Portrait of a Self-Portrait
