"Lucida is an extraordinary project, a huge leap forward and path-breaking enquiry into perception”

Gareth Evans, Film Curator, Whitechapel Gallery, London

Lucida is an immersive moving image installation, a touring exhibition and an artist’s publication exploring the human eye, vision and the brain.

The project brings together the diverse, subjective perspectives of scientists, psychologists and ordinary people, who each have their own compelling story about vision.

The artworks uses moving images as a starting point to unlock and investigate how multiple projections of the world focus on the physical structure of the human eye; the latest biomedical research and theory about how the brain processes and interprets sensory perception to create sight; and the role that art can play in providing metaphors to understand what perception means.

Lucida seeks to make the viewer distinctly aware of seeing by bringing the perceptual process – including its flaws, imperfections and assumptions – to the forefront. The interactive artwork will prompt its viewers to look again at the world around us and ponder if what we see is actually what is before our eyes.

The multilayered soundtracks are composed by Dominik Scherrer, the winner of the 2014 Ivor Novello Award.

A publication accompanies the exhibition with essays by Dr Marius Kwint, Reader in Visual Culture, University of Portsmouth, Dr Richard Wingate, Head of Anatomy, King's College London and Gareth Evans, Film Curator, Whitechapel Gallery.

From Obscura to Lucida (2017)

Interview with Suki Chan and Sir Colin Blakemore

Lucida II (2017)

Interactive Ultra High Definition Video Installation
Duration: 2 mins 50 secs

Lucida III (2016)

Interactive High Definition Video Installation
Duration: 7 mins 42 secs

Lucida Trilogy Documentation

Short video showing the interactive element of the Lucida Trilogy during the tour.

Publication

Published to coincide with the tour of the Lucida Trilogy. Richly illustrated with colour plates throughout. Contributors: Colin Blakemore, Marius Kwint, Richard Wingate, Piers Masterson and Gareth Evans.

Review

Lucida, at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester, Art Asia Pacific review by Piers Masterson

Funders and Partners

The Lucida Trilogy was commissioned by the University of Salford Art Collection, Science Gallery Dublin and the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) in partnership with the Centre for the Study of the Senses, University of London and Tintype.

Lucida is supported by the Wellcome Trust Small Arts Awards and Arts Council England.