Wired for Wonder

“Perception” is often thought of as the ability to read the body’s sensors—our eyes, ears, tongue, skin, and nose—as they dutifully measure the “real world.” Instead, the biological truth and phenomenological assertion is that our brains synthesize perception out of complex multisensory input, information from our lived lives, and social relationships.

Artists and architects often engage these senses in their work. Visual elements, such as lighting, colors, and movement create captivating environments. Soundscapes or music can enhance the atmosphere, while tactile interactions or physical sensations deepen the engagement. Such immersive experiences aim to envelop the audience in a multisensory journey, eliciting emotional responses and fostering deeper connections with the artwork. These intangible aspects are fascinating in themselves to study, but they are also crucial to developing appropriate conservation strategies.

In the exhibition, Wired for Wonder: A Multisensory Maze, art becomes a tool for interrogating and shifting sensory experience, inviting participants to become both scientist and subject exploring the building blocks of meaning-making and perception. Mechanisms for evaluation will be built into the experience for examination and reflection of outcomes, and to facilitate adoption of the program framework by museum colleagues.

It was important to collaborate with local communities. The exhibition offered a welcoming and informal space where people would connect with both art and science, as well as with museums more broadly. The maze served as a bridge, inviting communities that are often underserved to engage with art and museum experiences in meaningful ways. By combining play, experimentation, and creativity with works of art, the exhibition made PST ART’s theme of Art & Science accessible to younger audiences.

• Suchitra Mattai, The Hollow of Memory, 2025
• d. Sabela grimes, Earthseed Frequencies: Sonic Doctrine, 2025
• Motorefisico, Way Through, 2025
• Miguel Osuna, Not Even Light in Penumbra, 2016
• Alison Saar, reverie, 2025
• USC Immersive Media Lab, Infinity Room, 2025

Barry C. Smith, director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, founding director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses and Ophelia Deroy, professor and chair for Philosophy of Mind and Neuroscience at Ludwig Maximilian University