If you can’t wrap your head around how exactly this works, worry not! LACMA takes care to explain the science behind our ability to perceive three-dimensional images. We all possess the optical principle of binocular vision. Our brains synthesize the things we see into a single, volumetric image; we process the information our eyes receive to create one coherent picture.
This exhibition also offers an exciting interactive experience: viewers will be able to use and examine 3D devices. Various works require the use of such devices, including Victorian stereoscopes, View-Masters, modern lens-based devices, disposable anaglyph (red-blue) glasses, and polarized glasses, while some more advanced works don’t require any optical apparatus.
LACMA is excited to offer this interactive experience: Britt Salvesen, head of the LACMA Photography Department and the Prints and Drawings Department, says, “In an important sense, these artworks require the participation of a spectator to be fully realized. The ultimate goal is a 3D image, which exists only virtually, in the spectator’s mind. 3D: Double Vision is a show that must be experienced in person.”