# Gianni A. Sarcone

Gianni A. Sarcone (born March 20, 1962) is a visual artist and author who collaborates with educational publications, writing articles and columns on topics related to art, science, and mathematics education. He has contributed to several science magazines, including Focus Junior (Italy), Query-CICAP (Italy), Rivista Magia (Italy), Alice & Bob / Bocconi University (Italy), Brain Games (USA), and Tangente (France). Sarcone has over 30 years of experience as a designer and researcher in the areas of visual creativity, recreational mathematics and educational games.

## Visual research

Considered a leading authority on visual perception by academic institutions, Sarcone was invited to serve as a juror at the Third Annual "Best Illusion of the Year Contest" held in Sarasota, Florida (USA). His optical illusion projects 'Mask of Love' and 'Autokinetic Illusion' were named among the top 10 best optical illusions in the 2011 and 2014 "Best Illusion of the Year Contests", respectively. In 2017, he placed third in the contest for his ‘Dynamic Müller-Lyer Illusion’.
Amongst other notable projects, he created and designed an “hypnoptical” visual illusion that was used in the logo and institutional signage of the 2014 Grec Festival of Barcelona, a significant cultural event featuring avant-garde musical, dance, and theater performances.
His joint work, “Moona Lisa”, a mosaic of lunar images that, when viewed from a distance, forms the iconic portrait of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, was featured as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) twice: on October 16, 2021, and again on September 14, 2024, in celebration of International Observe the Moon Night.
Since May 16, 2022, in honor of the International Day of Light established by UNESCO, the University of Florence (UniFi) has permanently hosted Sarcone's optical art works in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Sesto Fiorentino. This exhibition, titled “Enlightening Mind”, is freely accessible and organized by the Degree Course in Optics and Optometry.

## Honors and awards

| Award | Organization | Year | Result |
| Best Illusion of the Year 2011 | Best Illusion of the Year Contest | 2011 | Top Ten Finalist |
| Best Illusion of the Year 2014 | Best Illusion of the Year Contest | 2014 | Top Ten Finalist |
| Best Illusion of the Year 2017 | Best Illusion of the Year Contest | 2017 | Won |
| Royal Society Young People's Book Prize 2018 | Royal Society Prizes for Science Books | 2018 | Won |
| Best Illusion of the Year 2019 | Best Illusion of the Year Contest | 2019 | Top Ten Finalist |

## Educational project

G. Sarcone has authored and published numerous educational textbooks and illustrated books in English, French and Italian on brain training and the mechanism of vision. He is the founder of Archimedes-lab.org a consulting network of experts specializing in improving and enhancing creativity - for which he has been commended with a long list of accolades and awards, including the 2003 Scientific American Sci/Tech Web Award in Mathematics and received recognition in the US from: CNN Headline News, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and NewScientist.com.

## Media and broadcasting

Some of Sarcone's artworks such as The Other Face of Paris or Flashing Star have gone viral on the Internet. His works were also presented in several national and international television programs, including 'Rai 3' Italy, 'RTL 9 Channel' France, 'TSR 1 Channel' Switzerland, and in the following TV series:
* ‘Nippon Television Network’ / NTV (Japan): "Fukashigi"; Japanese: 不可思議探偵団 (2012).
* ‘National Geographic Television’ (US): "Brain Games Science" (2014).
* ‘Beyond Production’ PTY LTD (Australia): "Wild But True" – Season 1 (2014).
* "Masahiro Nakai’s Useful Library" show, a widely followed Japanese TV program (June, 2015).

## Selected works

* Gianni Sarcone, 1998, The Other Face of Paris (aka The Eiffel Girl), photograph, 66 x 91 cm, Private collection, Paris (France).
* Gianni Sarcone, 2001, Master of Numbers, mixed media / collage, 76 x 76 cm, Museum of Illusions, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
* Gianni Sarcone, 2003, Hold on Tight, mixed media, 76 x 76 cm, Museum of Illusions, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
* Gianni Sarcone, 1997, Hypnotic Vibes, mixed media, 70 x 70 cm, Museum of Illusions, Ljubljana (Slovenia).
* Gianni Sarcone, 2011, Apparition, mixed media, 122 x 122 cm, Museum of Illusions, Ljubljana (Slovenia).
* Gianni Sarcone, 2013, Mystic Bat (aka Mystic Flying Bat), mixed media, 122 x 122 cm, Private collection, Florence (Italy).
* Gianni Sarcone, 1997-2021, Moona Lisa. A mosaic of lunar images that forms the iconic portrait of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa when viewed from a distance.