Application of Optical Illusion Collections

I came across an amazing documentation of Illusion in Art from Dark Roasted Blend. The collection is pretty extensive. This link helped me to expend my illusion art knowledge from painting, landscape photography, sculptures, architecture, abstract geometrical graphic to advertising. The series of posts enable to me pick up some of the techniques used in illusion art.

Inspired by the author, I make a post with some other collection of Illusion Art in commercial design:

Absolut Vodka is every where!

Just like many of the illusion art painting, Absolut Vodka adopted the visual illusion technique by embedding Absolut Vodka bottle all around the drawing. While the city scene looks believable at one glance, some usual structure just looks a little abnormal when observer pay attention to the details on the drawings. The artist of this poster has embedded Absolut Vodka bottle shape in to many form of the visual elements in the city. One of the powerful thing illusion art does, is that it draws observer's attention to find out the 2nd layer meaning in the artwork. That way, observer felt rewarded to be able to "extra" content from the stagnant piece of work. 

The shape of Absolut Vodka bottle in this painting can be "seen" at the zebra crossing, water foundant, building structure, top of the building, alien's spaceship, banner behind the air plane and etc...

Club Med - look for the relaxing face

Compared to Absolut Vodka Print Ad above, this ad apply the similar deception technique. By placing visual hint of human face, though the photos are showing a landscape or a scenery of a vacation spot, the mind connected the visual and allow viewer to see human face in the photo. The visual deception as Gestalt psychological and some of the cognitive neuroscientific point of view suggest, make us connect the missing information in what our eyes see, and form an understanding in our mind.

Below are some other collections of optical illusion application:

Optical Illusions Happen at the Intersection of Art and Science.

The first Artist I came across in the art history is Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972). M. C. Escheris a famous Graphic Artist. His artwork show's great exploration of optical illusion. Some of his work explore "Impossiple Construction", and some explore "Metamorphosis".

I would day that he is very sharp in capturing the shape and form of the graphic where same figurative graphic can be arranged together and form patterns. He can considered as a pattern designer to me.

Below are some of his famous work:

Relativity - 1953 Lithograph

Drawing Hands - 1948 Lithograph

Day and Night - 1938 Woodcut in black and grey, printed from 2 blocks.

In most of the art work, he showed good sense of depth and height, able to capture the vision of far and near in his artwork. Some times, the perspective in the artwork was not meant to set the viewer in a secure, measurable space. It was a means of distorting the view and fooling the eye.

Some of the comparison of inspiration his work has towards the digital media today. 

The illusion of depth and height, and the character could walk on different surface
of the game ui shows it's influence from Escheris's work

The use of mirror and the fish eye view created the illusion of space in these artworks

Other reading links: 

M.C. Escher Gallery

Optical Illusion in History of Art
http://raggedclothcafe.com/2008/01/22/optical-illusions-in-art-the-continuum-by-sandy-donabed/#more-653

Monument Valley - iOS Game

http://www.monumentvalleygame.com/

Dome projection by Paul Bourke
http://paulbourke.net/exhibition/domeinstall/

Warping Fisheye Images for Spherical Mirror Projection
http://www.luniere.com/2013/03/14/warping-fisheye-images-for-spherical-mirror-projection/

PufferFish Spherical Projection
http://www.pufferfishdisplays.co.uk/

First Tutorial Session

Above is some of the points recorded in the tutorial session

Potential Direction I could think of managing my research and my project

Some of the notes for further research in the history of art:
- Explores Optical Art/ Visual Illusion in the fine art area
- Explore the theatre tricks > stage design, illusion, make illusion of space (bigger space/thunder)
                                           > magic trick
- I can also choose to explore static optical illusion (printed) or moving optical illusion (stage)
- The consideration of visual, is it figurative or is it abstract geometrical graphic?

Level 6 Research Starts Here

To mark a new beginning of the research and thoughts chapter, I'll like to post my idea map that marks some of my past semester knowledge in contextual study in BIMD program.

This cultural/ theories map is created based on my interest or a curiosity in the power of art and design.
I sometimes wonder at the creativity artists and designer had in seeing wonders in a piece of blank paper. For today's artists, we see endless possibilities in a flat pixel screen.

We can make a universe of 3D game world bring player back to a medieval world. Creating a carousel navigation to display album covers in MP3 player software, table top layout design and many other possibilities through visual communication techniques has enrich the visual experience of a computer user. Sometimes just distorting a rectangle shape could already create a depth of view, plus the control of lighting, colour and composition, the world become more and more believable.

The trigger point that makes me feel super amaze is when I see projection mapping project that pushing the canvas from computer screen or theatre projection to a building. By playing with the architecture structure, re-look into the same old building with a new and trendy visual approach, mixing 3D, animation, projector technology, the art piece create impact in the way message is delivered.

Particularly in the visual exploration of the projected surface, the architecture and how projection visual display the 3D illusion is one of the major clue to effective or realistic projection mapping.

So in the further exploration of the visual techniques, the potential audience/ viewer experience will be analysed and explored in this project. It'll be more towards art and aesthetic experience study.  

I started the research by reviewing some of the theories I've learnt in the past semesters. There are also some that I found from online reading.

Page Break

This post mark and the chapter break from level 5 to level 6