What is real, and what is merely an illusion?
The question of reality has accompanied humanity since antiquity, yet it remains unresolved. My collection What Is Reality explores the fragile boundary between appearance and truth.
Plato described reality as a world of ideas, suggesting that what we perceive is only a shadow — a reflection of something more perfect and intangible. Centuries later, René Descartes attempted to ground reality in consciousness itself: cogito, ergo sum — I think, therefore I am. Existence, in his view, is proven through thought. But does thinking guarantee truth, or only awareness? Paul Watzlawick argued that our perception of reality is constantly disrupted by paradoxes, misinformation, and subjective interpretation. In moments of confusion, we search for the quickest explanations — not necessarily the truest ones. This raises a crucial question: are these explanations reality itself, or simply weak attempts to make sense of an overwhelming world?
My collection translates these philosophical questions into material form. Optical illusions, patchwork constructions, and deliberate voids or holes become tools to challenge perception. How much of what we see corresponds to reality? How much is shaped by expectation, memory, or desire? Is reality something objective, or does everyone construct their own version of it?
Perhaps there are no definitive answers. Perhaps absolute truth is unattainable. But within this ambiguity lies freedom — the freedom to question, to doubt, and to reimagine what reality could be.
What Is Reality is not a statement, but an open question.
Valentina Pichler
valentina.e.pichler@gmail.com +43 660 4887890 @nnne.nii