Inside Chennai's world of 3D illusions

A 3D trick art museum is Chennai-based AP Sreethar's way of bringing the art audience back to life

There's a flair for drama even in the most reticent of audiences, and AP Sreethar believes all it takes is a few tricks to bring out the histrionics. From septuagenarians to their six-year-old grandchildren, Sreethar has received unprecedented response to the 3D trick art museum he opened two months ago in Chennai.

Located in VGP Snow Kingdom and touted to be the first of its kind, the Click Art Museum features the most celebrated icons of all times. Amongst the most recognisable is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but , in Sreethar's world, the lady gets a change in wardrobe and a new hairdo. With the graciousness of a perfect hostess, her hand extends out of the frame as she pours out coffee for a visitor.

Spread out over 2,000 square feet, one of the 24 pieces on display is a portrait featuring Adam and Eve. Based on Titian and Reuben's portrayal of the figures best associated with the Garden of Eden, Eve quietly watches as Adam drops a sinfully-red apple - out of the frame. While some visitors pose with their hands cupped to catch the falling apple, others sit on the floor with their mouths open, pretending to wait for the apple that'll never really fall.

"People go home with lots of pictures, and that makes them happy. This kind of project is necessary to popularise art. You have to ease people in," says Sreethar.

"How many people actually go to art shows? A majority of people find it difficult to connect with art because of the seriousness attached to it, and that perceived seriousness is keeping a lot of audiences at bay," believes Sreethar, who's working on a bank of over 90 works for this project.

While one of his works tricks you into believing that the participant has been sawn in half, in another humans become puppets of the giant hands that seem to break out of the museum's walls.

There are only 42 such museums across 12 countries, says Sreethar as he recounts his experience with the curious case of enthusiastic audiences in India. In one of his works, Bruce Lee's foot flies out of the frame in a signature move, and a number of visitors have not hesitated in "kicking" Bruce Lee back.

Every painting comes with reference photographs which show visitors how to best interact with the works. "Imagine cleaning footprints off a canvas you've worked on for two-three months," says Sreethar, adding, "It's only in our country that people aren't worried about soiling artworks. It's hard to put up original canvases in an interactive museum in India so I've had to laminate and make copies."

But one-off incidents won't hold Sreethar back. "Mumbai, two places in Delhi, Kolkata, Vishakapatnam, Bengaluru..." Sreethar rattles off the names of cities he wants to take the museum to; he's already finalised spots in about 25 cities which will have a trick art museum of their own by December.

For more, visit clickartmuseum.com or follow Click Art Museum on Facebook