This subaqueous (and seemingly miraculous) installation, by the Argentine artist and master of optical trickery Leandro Erlich, is situated at the 21st Century Museum of Art in Kanzawa, Japan. Viewers above ground are met by an arresting sight: their fellow visitors are seemingly wandering around beneath the rippled surface of a swimming pool, defying the laws of gravity and the properties of water in one fell swoop. The strength of the illusion lies in the piece’s glass covering, which recreates both the texture and light quality of water so convincingly that—much like these young sightseers—most people feel compelled to touch it, just to make sure.
