Creatives often question the real and are drawn to the aspects that are unreal, surreal, or imaginary; at times, interpreting our understanding of the real world as the truth itself. Yet, that which we can imagine and subsequently create, beyond the constraints of reality, becomes mystical and rhetoric. Here, the concept of irreal-ism comes into play.

Transcending known certainties presents a unique lens through which the mainstream can be subverted, where reality is reckoned to take off its blindfolds. Beneath gilded titles of what we know and create, is a conquest to uncover what we haven’t, the synthetic universe of the irreal that fascinates and frightens in equal measure.

This week’s issue visits the promising realm of the irreal, not as an absolute departure from reality, but as an extension of it: AI proponent Ila Colombo reveals how customisable AI avatars can represent diverse identities towards authentic self-portrayals; the exhibition ‘Dear Earth: Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis' throws light on parallel realities of climate change and climate crisis deniers; Per Carlsen persuades explorations of spatiality with surreal imaginary architecture.

In this age, is it valuable to define or to blur the boundaries between the real, the unreal, and the irreal?