A famous saying claims that the eyes are the window to the soul. Others mention a door, or even a reflection. But what happens to that soul when the eyes it supposedly peeks through aren't entirely trustworthy? Perceptions that aren't what they seem, tricks that challenge reason. Why do we see one thing when "really" it's another? Samm Hodges' work called "Ilusiones" explores this conflict and, unsurprisingly, leaves us with more questions than answers...
While writing these lines, I don't need to look at the keyboard. Years in front of a computer have allowed me to adapt to different formats, strange characters, larger and smaller keys, missing ones and extras. I never went to a class or school. I don't use all my fingers, but my speed is enough to work. And yet, there are times when I glance down and freeze. What happens? "Muscle memory", whispers science. Motor learning, assimilation through repetition. Typing on a keyboard, playing an instrument, riding a bike, even solving a Rubik's cube are activities that rely on this mechanism. But when I use my eyes, the keyboard becomes a stranger. The brain-muscle relationship can reach an impressive level of precision, while the brain-eyes relationship makes us fall for all sorts of traps.
Optical Illusions and the Spinning Dancer
Of course, brains are different, and what deceives or affects one person may be irrelevant to another. Optical illusions are a great example. Some simply don't work... and others work too well. They plant a seed of doubt in us, fed by a pinch of curiosity and another of irritation. This brings us back to the question: What is happening? The wonderful work of Samm Hodges known as "Ilusiones" gives us a solid reference. The video begins with a spinning dancer. Which way is she turning? Your eyes and brain go into action, providing an answer... which is wrong. According to the narrator, the illusion consists of two perfectly valid truths, but we cannot see both. Our brain will pick one and stick to it.
The short also highlights the power behind some illusions. Some maintain their effect even after being explained, pulverized. Others, we dismiss so easily that they don't even seem like illusions in the first place. It is our perception, trying to impose order, but carrying the inevitable truth that it doesn't tell us everything. We may feel healthy and strong, but the video throws another dagger: We are falling apart, day after day, layer after layer.
Unfortunately, the version of "Ilusiones" on YouTube doesn't have subtitles, but the folks at Next Door Publishers (link below) have a special translated cut, whose embed couldn't be integrated here for technical reasons equivalent to a robotic war with Japan (?). It's supposed to be the first of eight parts, but two years after its release, it's still the only short of its kind. I think we got the message...
