Virginia and I were assigned page 34 or the “Impossible Objects and a Fable for the certain” section. The page begins with a short story about a king who attempts to uphold truth by hanging those who lie. A sage refutes this idea by approaching the castle and saying he is there to be hanged, thereby creating a conundrum. If the guards let him pass, he will have lied but if they hang him, he would have been telling the truth. Thus, the page reveals “the paradoxical and relative nature of things.” Some of the most famous artists to create impossible objects include M.C. Escher, Oscar Reutersvard and Istvan Orosz. They create visual illusions that make the mind see different things depending on which perspective the picture is seen from. For example, in M.C. Escher’s “Belvedere,” if you look at the building from the bottom, the building is seen as horizontal. However, looking at it from the top, the angle of the photograph makes it seem vertical. The picture we chose is by another renowned impossible objects artist named Sandro del Prete. In his picture, “The Columns,” perspective plays a key role in how the building is viewed. If one looks at the picture from the top, you see two rectangular columns. If one views the picture from the bottom, you see three circular columns. Thus, while both are possible in real life individually, they are impossible together. Sandro del Prete does an excellent job in using the space between the columns to manipulate the mind. The top area in the middle is left empty, creating the illusion that there are only two columns when seen from the top and the bottom area of the middle is given a circular column which makes us see three when we view it from the bottom. He also makes the top of the two outside corners have a rectangular shape, creating both rectangular and circular columns. The perspective from where we focus on the picture determines whether we see two rectangular or three circular columns, thus creating a visual illusion.
Very nice. Check your picture link.