Deception of dimensions

At India’s first 3D trick art museum in Chennai, artist A P Shreethar has created effects on artworks to give illusions.
AP Shreethar with his 3D artworks (Photo| R Satish Babu)
AP Shreethar with his 3D artworks (Photo| R Satish Babu)

Kavipriya Reddy, a 10-year-old girl, received the Oscars; Santhosh Raju, a businessman from Coimbatore, took a selfie with a chimpanzee, and Latha Krishnan from Chennai fought with Alexander the Great! All three of them walked out of India’s first 3D trick art museum laughing, showing their photographs on their phone camera and shouting “it’s a funderful experience!”

Conceptualised and created by artist AP Shreethar in Chennai, the Click Art Museum, which was launched in April this year, has become a sensation. “My favourite and the first piece of artwork that I created for this museum is a Mona Lisa optical illusion; imagine having coffee with her? Simply put, I reworked on an old masterpiece and added a dash of imagination,” says the 48-year-old artist.

Trick art has a history of over 2,000 years and was an established art form, during the Renaissance Era. Known as ‘tompe-l’oeil’ in French, meaning ‘deceive the eye’, it creates an illusion of a three-dimensional image as a two-dimensional object, giving a sense of realism. “Clever painting of shadows and action outside the perimeter creates sensory illusions tempting the observer to take part and add to the drama that the artwork unfolds,” explains the artist who took three-and-a-half years to research and bank artwork for this museum. Today, he has created an art-bank of over 70 pieces for the museum, of which 24 are on display at VGP Snow Kingdom in Chennai.

“I felt it is important to create a bank of images, so that the artwork in the museum can be changed periodically to give viewers a new photo opportunity each time they visit,” says the artist who plans to set up 11 such museums across the country by the end of 2016. “There are only 12 countries around the world that have a trick art museum, and I was keen on bringing the concept to India.” He confides that after an initial discussion with friends, he understood that people wanted to hear and see more ‘Indian’ characters.

So, he created artwork of former president APJ Abdul Kalam, poets Bharathiyar, Thiruvalluvar and a few more. Shreethar admits that he was confident about the success of the project, but he is surprised at the overwhelming response that the museum has generated, online and offline. “Most people use their phone to take photographs, and I banked on that.”

The versatile artist explains that participation of the visitor is the key and hence, provides a comprehensive set of instructions to ensure that there is maximum user engagement, imagination and laughter. He provides a quick tutorial regarding how to position oneself and the camera for the maximum effect of the illusions. There are two sets of footmarks around an artwork, one for a person to pose and the other for the photographers to position themselves and click. “Visitors can take pictures and touch the exhibits; sensory illusions stimulate the brain and add excitement. But most importantly, don’t forget to bring out the actor, cinematographer or director in you,” he advises.

Through the museum, Shreethar discovered that Mona Lisa is a familiar character around the creative sphere, but for the common folks, they seem to relate more to the character of Adam. “People enjoy getting photographed with Adam and catching the apple that he drops,” chuckles the artist. All artworks are within a five-foot medium and each weighing around 60 kg. From canvas, they are digitally enhanced and finally laminated on the wall. “This makes maintenance much easier,” he says.

He adds he is toying with ideas of creating themes around actors such as MGR in Tamil Nadu and many more whom people fondly remember. “After the museum, I have been getting requests from organisations to create images of their gurus. From Kolkata, I have received a request to create artwork around Goddess Durga.” He adds that space has been a constraint, but he has managed to provide 24 photo opportunities within 1,800 square feet.

He feels that despite being a culturally and artistically inclined nation, art has reached only about 30 per cent of the population. “Through this museum, people are now taking a moment to appreciate art. It could be because the individual is there in the photograph, but people do watch, observe, reflect, discuss and then click. Art can do wonders for the soul, and we need to take it through different forms to the common.”

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