But should you believe what you see at the Museum of Illusions?
IAN STALKER
Talk about intriguing balancing acts…
Downtown Toronto’s Museum of Illusions offers two attractions that often have visitors feeling a little unsteady on their feet, with The Tilted Room’s slanted floor and The Vortex’s tarp-like feature that revolves around a still, enclosed walkway of around 20 feet in a darkened setting both able to affect an individual’s equilibrium, says museum manager Max Campos.
And it’s attractions like that lead Campos to confidently declare that his workplace stands out among the city’s many museums.
The Museum of Illusions opened four years ago, the Canadian debut for a network which is also now also represented in Montreal and was launched in Europe by Croatian brothers fascinated by both Illusions and Albert Einstein, whose image can be seen in the the Toronto facility, which also displays the famed physicist’s “Reality is only an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” quote. (The museum also invites visitors to “unleash your inner Einstein while solving our Dilemma games.”)
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Campos says both the nature of the Museum of Illusions and its hands-on nature set it apart.
“Nothing’s as immersive as this. You can stand there and be part of the illusion,” he says of a museum that includes a mirrored room that distorts people’s heights, prompting the museum to state on its website that visitors can “grow and shrink your body, all in one place.”
Visitors will find over 70 exhibits, with those Campos finds particularly personally appealing including The Moving Picture , which has people view a wall display from a short distance and then move sideways, with the display then likely appearing to reposition as well.
One he says may be particularly confusing is labelled The Impossible Triangle (“such a weird image to look at”), while The Infinity Room in turn allows people to peer through openings in the floor and ceiling that appear to be endless but actually only extend about 2 feet. Such exhibits generally lead to what Campos describes as the “wow factor” — with visitors frequently remaining baffled after provided explanations.
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A recent afternoon saw a large number of families visiting the museum, with children darting from exhibit to another, with Campos reporting it’s common to see youngsters enjoying puzzles and other museum offerings.
“It kind of brings out the kid in me (as well),” he states of the museum.
The Museum of Illusions — which has a visiting illusionist mingle with guests on some Saturdays — is open daily.
More museum information can be found at museumofillusions.ca.
