Anamorphosis is one form of trompe l’oeil.
THAT explains it – right?
Trompe l’oeil, French for “trick the eye,” is the term used for two dimensional art that appears to have three dimensions, and although I’m sure they called it something else, it has been around at least since Ancient Greece.
According to Greek legend, two painters were rivals in a contest. Each would try to make a picture that produced a more perfect illusion of the real world. Zeuxis painted a likeness of grapes so natural that birds flew down to peck at them. Then his opponent, Parrhasius brought in his picture covered in a cloth. Reaching out to lift the curtain, Zeuxis was stunned to discover he had lost the contest. What had appeared to be a cloth was in reality his rival's painting.
Specifically, Anamorphosis is creating a picture that only looks real when seen from a single angle or point-of-view. There is another whole other field of anamorphosis which requires the creation to be seen through distorting lenses and mirrors, but I’m not going there today.
One of the best examples of anamorphosis is “street” art.
Amazing 3-D images, such as the one below, can only be viewed from the proper angle.
Looking at the same drawing from another direction, we see:
Here’s another example, one Artist Julian Beever titled “Baby Food.”
Seen from the other side, it becomes:
No comments:
Post a Comment