Can hallucinatory images be generated when our perception is disturbed?

Although most people are biologically capable of seeing hallucinatory images, only a few actually experience it. Matthijs Munnik’s work visualises the perception of hallucinatory patterns by disrupting the process of perception.

Built into two opposite walls of the space, an algorithm-controlled stroboscope flashes in different colours at a high frequency. The special light generate various interferences in the visual system. The resulting images are, therefore, not created on the projection screen but in the eyes of the viewer. Munnik’s sound and light installation provides a total experience that is different for each viewer, drawing attention to some special characteristics of the working mechanism of perception, while examining the influence technology has on the human nervous system, perception and sensory experiences.

Borbála Szalai