Things are not always as they seem, as an exhibition opening next week aims to prove.

Staff at Foredown Tower museum, Southwick, have been trying out the centrepiece of the exhibition about optical illusions - an Ames Room.

Artist James Meiklejohn built the room to deceive the eye. Although the room itself seems ordinary, as they enjoy a cup of tea James appears far smaller than Paula Huntbach, the tower's manager.

In fact, the room is not rectangular and Paula sits much closer to the camera than James.

This distorted room was first created by Professor Adelbert Ames Jr to show how deceptive the geometry of three-dimensional objects can be.

James decided to build his own version which will have visitors to the exhibition rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

He said: "It took quite a while to build. It does not work perfectly unlike some I have seen but these tend to be done at universities and cost a lot of money.

"A number of Renaissance buildings in Italy use the same principles to make corridors appear longer."

James explained that in the Ames Room one wall is much shorter than the wall opposite and the floor and ceiling slope in to meet it. However, the eye believes it is a perfectly regularly shaped box.

He added: "The idea of the exhibition was also to have some pictures that are proper optical illusions and others that are in the spirit."

Paula Huntbach, Foredown Tower's manager, said the exhibition tied in well with the Camera Obscura, the museum's most famous exhibit.

A mirror and lens attached to the roof of the former water tower provide an image of the world outside on a curved dish in the observation room.

Paula said: "Camera Obscuras have been around for over 400 years. They are the only safe way of looking at the sun and they provide a link between art and science - which is also what optical illusions do."

The Beguiled Eye exhibition will run from Saturday, October 20, until Sunday, November 18. The museum is open to the general public on Thursdays to Sundays. For more information call 01273 292092.