I’ve always been drawn to the architecture of geometry. The hexagon, with its quiet strength and symmetry, sits at the root of so many spatial illusions—it’s the seed of cubes, isometric grids, and 3D paradoxes. From this shape, I began exploring structures that bend logic and perception, eventually giving life to a trio of optical works: Enigma 1, Enigma 2, and Enigma 3.
Each piece is built around the visual tension of the impossible cube, created by merging two tribars in perfect isometric perspective. The lines suggest solidity, yet the form escapes reality—what looks structurally sound unravels the moment the eye tries to make sense of it. That’s the game I love to play: where geometry behaves, but perception rebels.
These “Enigmas” are spatial riddles dressed in stripes and angles, each one twisting the viewer’s reading of depth, volume, and continuity in its own way.
Here are two relative size illusions I described back in 1997 and 2013.
The first, called Sarcone’s Crosses, challenges classic illusions like the Ebbinghaus illusion (Titchener Circles, 1898) and the Obonai square illusion (1954). It features a cross (the test shape) surrounded by squares of different sizes.
As shown in Fig. 1.a, 1.b, and 1.c, the three blue crosses are all the same size — yet the one on the left (Fig. 1.a) appears larger. Surprisingly, the illusion still works even when smaller squares completely cover the cross (Fig. 1.c).
So, the size of surrounding shapes doesn’t always dictate how we perceive the central one.
In the second illusion (Fig. 2.a and 2.b), due to assimilation, the red diagonal inside the larger ellipse seems longer — but the blue line is actually the longest.
Perception loves to play tricks on us.
You can explore more of my illusions and visual inventions on my official site: giannisarcone.com
In English, the expression to smell the color 9 describes something completely impossible…
And yet, some people have the unusual ability to mentally visualize colors or spatial patterns when thinking about units of time—or more broadly, numbers. This phenomenon, known as synesthesia (from the Greek syn, “together”, and aisthēsis, “sensation”), occurs when stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers sensations in another. It’s not a figure of speech—these perceptions feel very real to those who experience them.
The first documented case in medical literature appeared in 1710. Dr. John Thomas Woolhouse (1650–1734), an ophthalmologist to King James II of England, reported a blind young man who claimed he could perceive colors induced by sounds.
Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and his team at the University of California, San Diego, observed that the most common form of synesthesia links “graphemes“—letters or numbers—to specific colors. Since my work bridges art and mathematics, I’ll focus here on number-based synesthesia.
People who experience synesthesia in its pure form are relatively few. However, many report strikingly similar associations between numbers and colors or spatial layouts, suggesting these perceptions aren’t just products of imagination or attention-seeking. For example, number–form synesthesia may result from cross-activation between brain regions in the parietal lobe that handle numerical and spatial processing. In contrast, number–color synesthesia likely stems from an overabundance of connections between adjacent areas that interfere with each other when triggered (see fig. 1 below).
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate common synesthetic patterns—either as color associations (fig. 2) or spatial arrangements (fig. 3, based on observations by Sir Francis Galton). Statistically, people often associate the digits 0 or 1—and sometimes 8 or 9—with black or white. Yellow, red, and blue are typically linked to smaller digits like 2, 3, or 4, while brown, purple, and gray tend to be tied to larger ones like 6, 7, or 8. Curiously, it’s not the idea of the number but the visual form of the digit that seems to trigger the sensation. For instance, when the number 5 is shown as the Roman numeral V, many synesthetes report no color at all.
And you—do you see numbers in color or arranged in space? Feel free to share your synesthetic experiences with me.
How misdirection, illusion, and wonder shape my creative process.
The path from misdirection to revelation is at the heart of how illusion and wonder spark insight. Misdirection steers our attention—often subtly—away from what truly matters. It disrupts our expectations, creating a gap between what we see and what is. Within that gap lies the illusion: a crafted discrepancy, a visual or cognitive sleight-of-hand that unsettles our perception.
But the magic doesn’t end there. When the illusion is cracked—when the mind shifts, recalibrates, and sees—the famous Aha! moment erupts. That flash of understanding isn’t just delightful; it’s deeply educational. It rewires how we interpret the world.
This sequence—misdirection, illusion, revelation—mirrors the creative process itself. It shows how confusion, when carefully designed, can be a gateway to clarity. In the right hands, illusion is not deception—it’s a tool to awaken curiosity, stretch perception, and provoke insight. Wonder, in this sense, becomes a powerful cognitive catalyst.
That’s why my art and, I believe, my writing, revolve around this sense of wonder—arguably the most direct and playful route to that pleasurable, often conflicting moment of insight: the sudden discovery of something previously unknown.
Ever wondered what happens when math puts on a magician’s hat? These books are the distilled magic of my hands-on math workshops across Europe — from Paris to Palermo, Geneva to Ghent — where paper folded, minds twisted, and logic sparkled in English, French, and Italian!
1) “Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes” — a playful dive into mind-bending problems where nothing is quite what it seems. Can a puzzle have no solution… or too many? Dare to fold your brain.
2) “Pliages, découpages et magie : Manuel de prestidi-géométrie” — where math meets illusion to spark curiosity and creativity. Perfect for teachers, students, and curious minds: touch, fold, cut… and let the magic unfold! Available on Amazon.
2) “Pliages, découpages et magie : Manuel de prestidi-géométrie” — un livre où maths et illusion se rencontrent pour éveiller curiosité et créativité. Pour enseignants, élèves et esprits joueurs : touchez, pliez, découpez… la magie opère! Dispo sur Amazon.
3) “MateMagica” — They say there’s enough carbon in the human body to make 900 pencils… but just one is all you need for these clever puzzles! Fun, surprising, and thought-provoking — because, as Martin Gardner put it, “Mathematics is just the solution of a puzzle.” Now on Amazon.
3) “MateMagica” — Si dice che nel corpo umano ci sia abbastanza carbonio per 900 matite… ma per questi rompicapi ne basta una! Sorprendenti, divertenti e stimolanti — perché, come diceva Martin Gardner, “la matematica è nient’altro che la soluzione di un rompicapo.” Disponibile su Amazon.
I write and illustrate my own books in five languages: English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. If you’re a publisher or literary agent seeking original, high-quality educational content that blends creativity with clarity, I’d be pleased to explore potential collaborations.
One of my illusions from the late ’90s. Take a look at the colorful umbrellas in Figures A and B of the table below—are they the same or different? About 80% of people will say that Umbrella A has jagged, zigzag edges, while Umbrella B has a smooth, wavy outline. But here’s the trick—you’ve been fooled by the brightness contrast of the rays inside the umbrellas. In reality, both umbrellas are identical in shape, perfectly congruent.
This illusion works even when only the lines of the shapes are emphasized. As demonstrated in the table below, the outline of Umbrella A appears jagged and zigzagged, while Umbrella B seems to have, once again, a smooth, wavy outline.
This illusion shows a phenomenon called curvature blindness, which was rediscovered in 2017 by Japanese psychologist Kohske Takahashi. He created a powerful variant and studied its impact on how we perceive shapes.
Colors are not as fixed as they seem. The red you see might not be the same red someone else perceives. Your brain constantly interprets colors based on their surroundings, which can lead to surprising illusions.
Take this experiment inspired by the Munker-White effect: all the gray bars in the striped patterns are actually the same shade. Yet, next to blue lines, they appear bluish; beside mixed colors, they seem to shift tones. This is known as color assimilation—where a color takes on the influence of its neighbors.
The same illusion explains simultaneous brightness contrast. In the wine-pouring examples below, the liquid seems to change color in the glass. But actually, the red remains unchanged.
Here’s a simple animated variant of my project: Hard to believe, but the flow of wine stays the same shade of red all the way—from the bottle’s neck, through the pour, and even inside the glass. It’s only your perception that changes!
Even more striking—when cyan lines replace black ones, the liquid pouring from the bottle is actually gray from start to finish, yet it appears to turn into red wine in the glass. In reality, the red is just an illusion—your brain fills in the missing color where none exists.
⚠ Copyright Notice: My artworks are protected. Any use must include proper credit and a link to the original source. Commercial use is strictly prohibited.
While technology may expand globally and permeate every facet of our daily lives, CULTURE, with a capital C, will inevitably remain rooted in specific places and times. It cannot be universal because its true essence lies precisely in that uniqueness. The idea of an “open culture” is a fallacy, as such a concept would erase its own meaning. While some cultures may appear inclusive, this openness always occurs within the boundaries of their own identity, preserving their core values and norms. A striking example of this is the ancient Romans, who, rather than resisting, embraced and integrated elements from civilizations radically different from their own into their laws, religion, language, cuisine, and daily life. This process reflects their remarkable ability to absorb and enrich their culture without betraying it—a true feat.
Another aspect of culture is that, like us, it too is destined to die. At some point in history, it fades away gradually or disappears abruptly. Furthermore, it is impossible to measure a culture from within, much like the eye that can see but cannot look at itself. It is through the lens of an outside perspective—another culture—that we can evaluate it. It is difficult to have an objective view of one’s own culture without reducing it to superficialities. Confronting cultures without falling into the trap of simplistic analogies or discrimination is no easy task, but it is achievable if we abandon preconceived notions.
The darker side of culture lies in its expansionism, which can easily slip into hegemony. It’s important to emphasize that hegemony is not the same as universality. While expansionism imposes and overwhelms, universality reflects shared values that connect cultures without erasing their uniqueness. Throughout history, people have embraced dominant cultures—sometimes abandoning their own—either because they were fashionable or aligned with the spirit of the times. But where do we draw the line between natural influence and disguised colonialism? Consider the global reach of American pop culture, shaping tastes and behaviors worldwide, while some traditions persist, resisting this wave of uniformity.
Multiculturalism, often touted as an ideal by well-meaning elites, obscures a fundamental truth: a culture, like a living organism, inevitably seeks to assert itself at the expense of others. It feeds, grows, and struggles to find its place in an ever-moving, chaotic world.
In the world of contemporary art, the concept of invisibility has become an imaginative playground for creativity. Here’s a glimpse into some intriguing—and often humorous or haunting—examples of invisible artworks that challenge our perceptions and redefine what art can be.
This installation featured an empty room with two air conditioning units, emphasizing that the true art lies in the feelings and conversations it inspires. Talk about a cool concept!
Byars designed a pitch-black room, inviting visitors to contemplate emptiness. It’s like stepping into a fridge at midnight—dark and full of existential questions.
Barry’s artwork consisted of thoughts communicated mentally to visitors. A reminder that sometimes art is all about connection—without any visual representation!
Warhol’s intangible sculpture, presented atop a white pedestal, exemplifies the idea that art can exist without form, challenging us to think beyond traditional boundaries.
I’m pleased to announce that my work Apparition will be featured in the 6th volume of Taschen’s Library of Esoterica, set to release in early 2025.
This portrait, created by combining photographs of 50 different human faces, presents a ghostly image that endlessly shifts its features as you look at it. The effect is driven by the neural adaptation phenomenon, similar to Troxler fading, along with the brain’s face-recognition circuits, which complete the image.
You can explore this piece and more with prints available from my online gallery.
For a deeper dive, visit Spirit Worldshere to explore art, rituals, and myths from hidden realms.
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