With an additional two levels housing new illusions and installations, Edinburgh’s year-round Obscura venue offers up a beguiling escape from the harsh Scottish (summer) weather. Based on a century-old design which reflects mirrored light via a periscope onto a large circular table, a demonstration reveals how mobile and pervasive the contraption can be. Weaving and snaking its way through the cobbled streets of Edinburgh, the camera actually reflects the age of surveillance we find ourselves in today as it spies and peers down on the unaware festival crowd. Optical illusions, light effects and 3D trickery make up the other chambers and this tour through impressions of reality and perception can both unsettle and hypnotise.

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions, 1 Aug – 4 Sep, 9.30am (7.30pm), £7.00 – £10.00, fpp190.
tw rating 4/5
[ajl]