Inspiration: Optical illusions

I have a love for optical illusions. Maybe it’s the fact that I like to figure things out a little – a sense of mystery behind a piece of art is a great thing. But when you add a surprise factor into it, a work of art can truly be an engaging experience.

I’ve been spotting amazing optical illusion works of art lately and these are a few that caught my eye:

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Felice Varini

What’s amazing about the Swiss artist Felice Varini is that he started creating optical illusion installation/in-situ paintings in 1979. If you think that his work is mind-boggling right now, think of how it must have looked like in the 1980s. He uses a projector and stencils to create perspective-localized paintings in rooms and other spaces. [Via]

From Wikipedia:

Felice paints on architectural and urban spaces, such as buildings, walls and streets. The paintings are characterized by one vantage point from which the viewer can see the complete painting (usually a simple geometric shape such as circle, square, line), while from other view points the viewer will see ‘broken’ fragmented shapes. Varini argues that the work exists as a whole – with its complete shape as well as the fragments. “My concern,” he says “is what happens outside the vantage point of view.”

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OK Go – The Writing’s on the Wall music video

With perspective as its theme (both in it’s music video and the meaning behind the song), I was glued to this music video from start to finish.

From NPR:

The one-take video was done on a single handheld camera, with 28 different illusions set up in the giant workspace in Brooklyn. The setup took about three weeks to build, involving over 50 people.

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Alexa Meade

Art is when something old is made new again, and in this instance, Alexa Meade’s work of art is alive, and well, breathing. Instead of merely painting portraits onto canvas, she’s turned people into works of art by painting on them directly – I liken it to a reverse artistic take on the movie “A Scanner Darkly” (in which live actors were re-rendered in digital form to create the movie). [Via]

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Oleg Shuplyak

Ukrainian artist Oleg Shuplyak creates oil paintings that feature the portraits of famous figures hidden behind a seemingly normal scenery. It’s not hard to decipher though, and these portraits are easily recognizable – I found myself trying to piece together the entire picture after I’ve picked out the faces instead. It is during this time that I can truly appreciate his work although unseeing things can be tough! [Via]

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Damien Gilley

 

Portland, USA-based artist and educator Damien Gilley reconfigures built environments by giving an alternate view of what could be. Empty walls (along with their fixtures) become a pathway into a whole new world; one that can be seen but never entered. His style – though simple and plays on the depth of vision created by lines – is one that offers a mysterious scaffolding to be filled in by thoughts of one’s own. [Via]

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What about you? Have you seen any interesting optical illustion based art recently? Which are your favorites?