Let there be light: Venetian palace evokes an illusion of the afterlife

The artwork in the atrium of Palazzo Grassi is part of The Illusion of Light exhibition, curated by Caroline Bourgeois. It features 18 artists, who explore the ambivalent nature of light, as a vital element of human life and art.

The artist was influenced by the sense of infinity he experienced while wandering through the American desert. Wheeler, a creator of continuous spaces, lives and works in Santa Fe and Los Angeles. In his work, artificial light redefines architecture, time and gravity. 

By removing the shadows and eliminating the horizon lines, the space beyond the palace’s columns forms a single whole. As a result, the installation evokes an ethereal, infinite and dream-like space, offering a meditative environment for visitors to question their physicality.

‘It is the light that makes the invisible dimension become visible,’ says the museum.

The exhibition runs until June 2015. To read more on surreal, alternative realities and the manipulation of perspective, read our Haptic Illusion Design Direction.