Creating at the intersection of art and mathematics

May 18, 2023 7:45 PM

M.C. Escher: Journey To Infinity [2018, 1h20m] is the story of world famous Dutch graphic artist M.C Escher (1898-1972). Equal parts history, psychology, and psychedelia, Robin Lutz’s entertaining, eye-opening portrait gives us the man through his own words and images: diary musings, excerpts from lectures, correspondence and more are voiced by British actor Stephen Fry, while Escher’s woodcuts, lithographs, and other print works appear in both original and playfully altered form. RogerEbert.com review from Matt Zoller Seitz.

Two of his sons, George (92) and Jan (80), reminisce about their parents while musician Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash) talks about Escher’s rediscovery in the 1970s. The film looks at Escher’s legacy: one can see tributes to his work in movies, in fiction, on posters, on tattoos, and elsewhere throughout our culture; indeed, few fine artists of the 20th century can lay claim to such popular appeal.

posted by hippybear (18 comments total)

I found this to be fascinating and dreamlike. Long lyrical stretches involving the artwork. This isn't a film you can just listen to. Also, I had no idea Escher was so contemporary! I had relegated him to an earlier age.
posted by hippybear at 7:46 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm getting a "video unavailable" error, and I'm hoping it's just because I'm in Japan :0
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:56 PM on May 18, 2023

It's available on a bunch of streaming services. It's possible that something you have locally has this instead of YouTube.
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on May 18, 2023

I wrote an essay about Escher for an art class when I was a junior in high school, but I really have no idea where or when before that I first encountered his work. But I never looked back. My standard-bearer for a good AI "draw a picture" app is, can it output at least a decent try at a still life, tessellation, or optical illusion engraving by Escher? (I mean, NO IT CAN'T, but how close can it get?)

The thing I remember most about researching and writing the essay was that math and mechanical drawing were being used in a creative endeavor—that just carved wide lanes of inquiry all over my young grey matter.

And Stephen Fry as the voice? Yeah, this sounds like it's right down my alley. Gonna ClipGrab it now. Thanks for posting it!
posted by not_on_display at 9:02 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's available on a bunch of streaming services.

Here's where it's available stateside: Mostly $3-$6 rentals through the usual storefronts, but Kanopy (a free service offered in conjunction with many local library systems) has it for free.

EDIT: I just realized that the commenter is in Japan, not the US! Here's the link to where it can be seen in Japan
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:12 PM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

huh, cool to see that justwatch.com works in various countries!
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:50 PM on May 18, 2023

Just in case anyone is in The Hague for any reason, there is the Escher museum. Very much worth the visit if you're in town and a fan. He designed his own gift wrapping paper and also his own bathroom tiles!
posted by LizBoBiz at 3:23 AM on May 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Stephen Fry is so very much more than an actor. Polymath might begin to describe him.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 4:21 AM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

It is not available online here in the Netherlands, which is funny.

The original Dutch documentary (sans Stephen Fry) however, playing at the FilmHuis Den Haag.
posted by vacapinta at 5:03 AM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Many years ago I asked a librarian "Where would I find M.C. Escher?"

She told me she didn't think they had any rap albums.
posted by Marky at 7:05 AM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Many years ago I asked a librarian "Where would I find M.C. Escher?"

"Just take the sideways stairs to the door in the ceiling."
posted by AlSweigart at 7:20 AM on May 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

Many years ago I asked a librarian "Where would I find M.C. Escher?"

"Just take the sideways stairs to the door in the ceiling."

Then follow the hooded figures to the end of the infinite staircase.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:28 AM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

A while back, I caught part of an interview with MC Escher on Youtube. Perhaps it will show up in this movie. I haven't got that far yet.

Anyway, I loved his response when asked the obvious question -- why his work was so focused on geometric objects. He just laughed, somewhat surprised, and then he said, "I happen to have that fascination."

Which continues to speak to me big time when it comes to another question, perhaps equally obvious. What is art? That is, how (for example) can one image of a ripe green apple be a work of art and another just an image of a ripe green apple?

I don't really have an answer except to say, if it's not informed, to some degree, by fascination on the creator's part -- I'd say it's not art.

One of those simple equations.
posted by philip-random at 8:41 AM on May 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

It is not available online here in the Netherlands, which is funny.

As usual, it's available worldwide via BitTorrent. The info hash of a 1080p dub that I know is being seeded right now is 35b713fd6e89cac2186d907769747cb77da9f8c1.
posted by flabdablet at 10:05 AM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

A few years back, I got to read "M. C. Escher: Letters to Canada" (letters to his son George who had immigrated to Canada) and it was a lovely read for insights into his art and personal life, dripping with lot of humor and anxiety. Excerpts are here, at the National Gallery of Canada official page.

Another fantastic read is "Escher on Escher", which also contains a lot of his written correspondences and lectures.
posted by mysticreferee at 11:41 AM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

In 2017ish my family spent a week in Lisbon, just hanging out and eating pasteis and sardines and hitting the highlights. We walked all the way out to Belem (transit not running due to marathon) and did the cathedral and etc., and discovered there was an exhibit space with a travelling Escher exhibit. My kids had never heard of Escher and grumbled a bit...but by the end they were dropjawed and using their pocket money to buy T-shirts from the gift shop.

of all the wonders of his wondrous work the thing in that exhibit that surprised me the most was a work i had never come across before: Synthesis. as a chemical engineer it really resonated with me. so that was a treat. I can't find it online but I think the print was made as part of some ads for a euro chem company like BASF.
posted by hearthpig at 3:30 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I honestly thought he was a half-century dead by the time the counterculture discovered him the 60s. His bemusement about this new fascination with his work is interesting because surely he would have read about the effects of LSD, which had been around for over a decade by this point and especially amongst European artist types. But then, he seems to have preferred block printing to people so maybe he didn't move in those circles.
posted by hippybear at 3:39 PM on May 19, 2023

I love his letter to Mick Jagger, seen here previously
posted by calamari kid at 7:36 PM on May 19, 2023