Open to Interpretation

"Open to Interpretation: The Art and Science of the Inkblot," reception Wed., Jan. 16, 5-7 p.m., through Feb. 8, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., 215-895-2548.

by Lori Hill

visual art

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"If you show me your inkblots I will show you mine." Sounds kinky, right? If we told you this was an e-mail exchanged between a clinical psychologist and a graphic designer, you might think differently — but you shouldn't. It was the prelude to a twisted, fascinating idea that's now an exhibition at Drexel called "Open to Interpretation: The Art and Science of the Inkblot." The clinical psychologist is Eric Zillmer, who specializes in inkblot analysis and Rorschach studies. The graphic designer is John Langdon, who specializes in ambigrams, or visual plays on words that read the same way from two viewpoints — which you might remember from a little movie called The Da Vinci Code. Both are Drexel professors interested in the ways the human brain tricks the eye into seeing images in bizarre, often highly subjective ways. Langdon's complex, beautiful inkblot paintings rest comfortably alongside Zillmer's work with Rorschach cards and actual responses to them. The exhibition is careful not to trivialize the inkblot technique, and instead provides 10 responses to the 10 cards along with background information about each subject. The first response? "A smiley face. Got badly shot. Four holes." The subject? A 16-year-old spree killer awaiting trial. "The test situation forces the subject to mentally convert the inkblot into something that it is not," says Zillmer. "The inkblot procedure is not an X-ray of the mind or the soul as is sometimes thought, but it is a representation of the psychology of the person."

"Open to Interpretation: The Art and Science of the Inkblot," reception Wed., Jan. 16, 5-7 p.m., through Feb. 8, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., 215-895-2548.