Deceiving Art

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Can our eyes be deceived? Yes! They can, although there is nothing wrong with our eyes as such but it is our brain that determines what is and what is not existent which leads to our deception. Whatever our brain interprets, we see as an illusion. Our brain makes assumptions with the knowledge we have been educated with, so, what appears to be may not be as it seems. So we are left with the question, “is seeing believing?” (Horizon, 2010, episode: Is seeing believing?)

Take Figure 1 for example, we see the tiles labelled A and B as different colours, but are they? In our minds we know that in Figure 1 the square is checked, therefore the coloured tile after black is white so we assume that it’s supposed to be white. If you move the loose tile from B across to A they are actually the same colour. ‘The checker-shadow illusion’ was created by a vision scientist named Edward H. Adelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Figure 1 Checker-shadow illusion

Mauritz (Morris) Cornelis Escher (1898), a Graphic artist, is famous for optical illusions. His inspiration of nature and the natural environment is clearly demonstrated in his work and is quite remarkable; it’s only a quarter of the build of his astonishing work. The most amazing feature about M.C. Escher’s (2006) work is that he creates the deception devised by an illusion. Escher (2006) has worked relatively hard to create the pieces of work that elude us. His intelligence to use mathematical problems to illustrate his inspiration and perception of the world is absolutely astounding. J. L. Locher (2006, inside cover) believed that ‘No artist has ever worked harder to render the visions of his mind’s eye’ than M. C. Escher (2006)....

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... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_illusion

Cafe wall Illusion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_wall_illusion

Rubix illusion http://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/18/why-our-brains-are-fooled-by-illusions/

Rubix illusion 2 http://lesswrong.com/lw/1om/bizarre_illusions/

Magazines

BBC Focus magazine – Don’t believe your eyes Issue 222 November 2010

Books

ESCHER. M. C. 2006. The Magic of M.C. Escher. Place of Publication: Thames and Hudson.

Video

Horizon: is seeing believing? 2010. Director and Producer: Naomi Austin. [TV programme]. B. B. C.

Horizon: what is one degree? 2011. Director and Producer: Dan Clifton. [TV programme]. B. B. C.

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