Civic Trompe-l'oeil
This is the database for Civic Trompe-l'oeil, established by Jiaqi Li since 2017. Contact: jiaqi.li@my.cityu.edu.hk
What is Civic Trompe-l'oeil: It involves everyday, functional illusions outside traditional art conventions. It acts as a vernacular "mask of reality" in urban environments, exploring a "Pictorialized Life" (Li, 2026) where city structures prioritize communicative surfaces over physical substance to form a new landscape.
What are the sub-categories: The database categorizes these public illusions into three overlapping functional types. The categories are not strictly mutually exclusive, but each has one aspect being strongly emphasized. "Replacement" (marked as R) acts as camouflage or an impostor to replace an existing reality. "Placeholder" (marked as P) represents something absent, interacting with its surroundings to complete a new narrative. Finally, "Attraction" (marked as A) consists of independent installations meant purely to create visually surprising perspective experiences.
What is the purpose of this database: The database systematically archives these temporary urban illusions to support research and preserve a fading phase of visual culture before it vanishes. This collection transforms everyday infrastructure into cultural artifacts, providing the empirical foundation needed to establish the term "Civic Trompe l’oeil" and refine the broader concept of the "Expanded Trompe l’oeil."
