Art of Deception

November 15, 2004 12:29 AM

The sculptures of Shigeo Fukuda show that shadows and reflections (mpegs) may not be what they appear to be. When you turn M.C. Escher's drawings into sculptures, you can get some impossible objects (mpeg). And Dick Termes paintings on globes are stunning examples (Quicktime) of six point perspective. All of these works of illusionary art are featured in the book Masters of Deception: Escher, Dalí & the Artists of Optical Illusion and must be seen to be believed.
posted by euphorb (6 comments total)

Awesome-looking book and site, thanks, lots to look at. Sadly, I find it's hard to tell what's going on with the teeny videos, but I can imagine it a bit. Great Escher videos. Speaking of Escher, I was reminded of the clever three-way GEB sculpture by Hofstadter, who wrote the introduction to the book (of course!).
posted by Turtle at 5:18 AM on November 15, 2004

Thanks, euphorb! I hadn't heard of this book, and I know someone who will be delighted to receive it next month.

And Turtle, yeah, I had the same thought - GEB/EGB - when I saw this one.

Anybody remember the anamorphic cover to Rick Wakeman's No Earthly Connection, which came with a rectangle of thick aluminum foil that we could roll up and place in the middle to see the image correctly (and which we lost within the first week)?
posted by soyjoy at 6:54 AM on November 15, 2004

That book looks great! Straight on my christmas list ...

Incidentally, a kind of enormous extension of the idea behind the GEB sculpture (an object that casts different shadows when lit from different directions) is the digital sundial. I'm still not sure if that site is a hoax or not ...
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:04 AM on November 15, 2004

More real-life Escher.
posted by Robot Johnny at 7:22 AM on November 15, 2004

You are KILLING me here guys...I just got back from Japan and visited Shigeo's museum in Ninohe. I lived in that little mountain town and was surprised to see the town had built a museum to honor him. the outdoor sculpture of his face on pillars was wonderful.

I'll have to upload the pictures to my site tonight...but dang it...you beat me to the punch!
posted by Dantien at 7:43 AM on November 15, 2004

Just...wow. Awesome subject, excellent post. Thanks.
posted by Lynsey at 9:36 AM on November 15, 2004