Over 15,000 visitors have explored the garden since it opened in
July, discovering 12 engaging art exhibits, designed to help
promote understanding and stimulate debate about how visual
impairments can affect our perception of the world around
us.
Luke Jerram said: "It's amazing so many people are
coming to see the exhibition. Many have never been here before and
didn't even know Bristol had a Botanic Garden!
"As someone who is red-green colour blind, I'm fascinated by the
processes of visual perception. In August we invited a group of
people who were colour blind to test some glasses, which can
counter the effects of red green colour blindness and it was so
interesting to watch the results. In fact, it got quite emotional
for some participants as they saw a spectrum of colour they had
never enjoyed before."
The intriguing idea of The Impossible Garden came about after
Luke's nine-month residency at the Bristol Eye Hospital and BVI,
funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
Luke applied for the residency together with Cathy Williams,
a member of BVI and a Consultant in Paediatric Ophthalmology at
Bristol Eye Hospital.
Cathy has seen how the exhibition is helping to start
discussions about vision and she hopes it will lead to greater
public understanding about the many processes involved in "seeing".
Families tell her that lack of understanding is often a barrier to
getting support for children with many kinds of visual
impairment.
As part of the residency, Luke (well-known for the
Museum of the Moon and street pianos artwork Play Me I'm Yours), worked
with researchers from the University of Bristol's Bristol Vision
Institute (BVI), Bristol
Eye Hospital, Botanic
Garden and spent time with visually-impaired children to
increase his knowledge of visual perception.
Professor David Bull, Director of Bristol Vision Institute,
added: "The collaboration with Luke is a fantastic opportunity for
us to explore the power of visual illusions. Understanding how they
work can tell us a lot about the properties and limitations of our
visual system and I would encourage everyone to visit the
exhibition."
Find out more here
The Impossible Garden.
