Mighty Optical Illusions

VIDEO Pretty Celebrities Turn Ugly

2012-05-22T18:51:18Z

While ago I have posted an interesting optical illusion video showing relatively unknown distorting effect in action. This recently discovered phenomena uses god-knows what kind of trickery to distort ordinary (even beautiful) faces into ugly caricatures.

It’s also worth mentioning that the discovery was made by accident, or – pure luck if you will. Perhaps someone was listing still photographs of people’s portraits, while his/her focus drifted away from their faces. If you’re interested to learn more about the effect, you should check our previous article on this topic.

But for now – just sit back, relax and play the clip. Just don’t forget to follow the instructions given at the very beginning (focus your eyes on the white cross in the center). So, what have you experienced? Could it be that this is how drug-addicts experience the world around them? Dunno..

Heading Down The Rabbit Hole…

2012-05-20T20:08:16Z

If one pill makes you larger and another one makes you small, then someone must have been quite busy distributing those pills to the following photographers. Their subjects are all sorts of wrong sizes. And not just people have been given them magical pills, no sir! Below photo of horses in a field in Doellstaedt, Germany shows that even animals have been receiving them in “the name of art”. Of course, it is a little strange that someone decided to place obviously regular-sized table in the middle of the field, but that’s another matter all together.

Photographer Jean-Francois Fourtou’s subjects have quite a hard time adapting to their new lives as giants, finding simple tasks like sleeping and eating overwhelmingly challenging.

And not all of his targets have become massive. This poor chap has become so small that he has difficulty keeping his house clean, even getting up to the dinner table. On the upside, now his home is a lot more spacious.

While all of this may seem innocent, the danger is all too real – Just today I almost stepped on my German Shepard who is now the size of a mouse and my goldfish is suffocating because even the bathtub isn’t big enough to fit him any more.

Who is Holding Whom?

2012-05-17T15:20:45Z

Here’s an awesome find by Ellen. Can you see who is holding whom in this photo below? Are you absolutely sure? Think again – it can work both ways! Ellen really got me thinking there for a minute, before I could understand what was really going on here. It was as if those two girls were conjoined in some way, right? If you like these sort of illusions, you might wanna check our “Multiple Meanings” category for more!

Take a Walk On the Bâtiment

2012-05-16T06:21:54Z

Unless you’re Spiderman, hanging off the side of a building can be rather exhausting and crawling or walking along its facade are even more impossible. Fortunately, for all those wannabe superheroes, artist Leandro Erlich has developed a system that allows you to see what you would look like as a gravity-defying, building-climbing comic book character.

To do so, he created Bâtiment, a massive building facade planted firmly on the ground with a giant mirror sitting at a 90 degree angle from the bottom of the building.

The end result is a building that people can not only climb, sit or stand on, but one where they can watch themselves do these things.

Of course, just as amusing as the artwork itself is seeing the reactions of the people interacting with it. While some people admire their superhero selves, others try to set up more realistic scenes where they dangle from the windows. Even as dozens of people play on the building, others stride briskly over it without ever looking up, apparently uninterested in how they look walking across the side of a building.

The exhibit where the installation was shown has been over since March, so it will be interesting to see if Erlich will end up setting up his creation somewhere else or if that was the only place and time people could interact with the piece.

The Illusion Chair

2012-05-13T02:15:45Z

If you’re looking to take a seat, Masayuki Hayashi has you covered -provided you happen to approach his chair from the right side. If you approach from the left hand side, you’ll instead be left wondering “where’s this chair he promised me, and what’s up with all these weird black lines?”

That’s because the artist’s aptly named Black Line Chair is made from nothing but black metal rods arranged to look like a nothing but a series of lines when viewed from the right angle.

Of course, even if you can see the chair, I wouldn’t recommend sitting on it, not only would Masayuki not be very happy if you sat on his artwork, it also seems rather uncomfortable no matter how you look at it.

The Impossible Building

2012-05-10T22:22:14Z

As a Moillusions reader, you’ve undoubtedly already seen your share of Penrose Triangles both here and elsewhere. Even so, the concept remains fascinating, particularly when turned into real-life objects, because the design itself is, in actuality, impossible.

That’s why this Steelwork Illusion created by Deskarati is simply so fascinating -the illusion is so subtle and the photo looks so real that your mind wants to accept that it is an unaltered photograph. That is, until your brain starts to follow the lines of the steel framework and you begin realizing more and more just how impossible this building design really is.

127 Hours Movie Poster Illusion

2012-05-08T20:55:47Z

Last year I saw this Hollywood movie starring James Franco, called “127 Hours“. It goes about a mountain climber who becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone somewhere in Utah. In order to survive, he then resorts to desperate measures. It was an ok time-waster for me as I appreciate Franco’s talent, but there was this subtle optical illusion on the cover, one you could easily overlook if you don’t pay close attention. Thanks goes to Allan Russell, who pointed this out to me. Let me share the original poster (lacking promotional text and labels) which helps the illusion stand out more. Can you see it? Smart one, ayeh?

The poster for the film “127 hours” has a huge hour glass on it. The rock his hand is trapped under, possibly being a grain of sand, shows that his timing is ticking away – Allan

Flamingo Body Paint Illusion

2012-05-05T17:00:37Z

It could’ve seemed I was less active for the past few days, as updates came in less regularly and were mostly done by Jill. But rest assured I was deep in the matter, doing some mighty updates in the beck-end of this site.

For example, remember how some of you complained that when we post animated gifs to the “Optical Illusion of The Day” widget, it takes too much CPU, and slows down the widget? I’ve fixed that. On the other hand, when we post optical illusion videos using our custom embedded player, they appear and work flawlessly, it’s just that they haven’t shown on the mobile version of this site, and our RSS feed omitted them. This should be past-tense as well :D

Another thing concerning the widgets… Yahoo decided to kill its dashboard platform, so our focus is now switching onto iGoogle, Mac and Windows gadgets. If you haven tried them, be sure to check them out and see which one suits your needs. They were built with an idea to provide you with endless illusions for the rest of (our) life. So, which one would be your choice?

For the illusion, I’v received this beautiful flamingo that took me a second before I realized what was going on around here. Like it?

Creating the World from Water

2012-05-02T19:33:18Z

You probably already know that about 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, but did you know you can make an entirely new one from just one drop? Ok, to be fair, it’s only an upside down reflection of the world as portrayed on a map, but, still, I doubt any of us has the talent or patience to recreate these brilliant photos by a photographer Markus Reugels.

Even with all his experience shooting water drops, Reugels still takes hours to complete each shoot because no mater how much practice and talent you have under your belt, capturing a water drop at the perfect moment still relies on luck more than anything else.

Fortunately, with a lot of time on his hand, a little luck and a world map, a simple photograph of a water droplet can easily become something more – easily taking on a deeper meaning, even preaching the importance of clean water to the health of our planet.

In Reugels workshop, even the moon, an object that we see on a regular basis, can suddenly become crystal-clear and even more stunning than it is while hovering above the night sky.

Of course, Reugels didn’t start off shooting water drops. He was originally a family portrait photographer, but three years ago he decided he wanted to try his hand at something more challenging -something he certainly managed well.

When it comes to his process, even Reugels admits that it is exceptionally difficult, “Sometimes I take 500 pictures and only a couple of them are really perfect in my opinion.”

As for how he does it, well, his set up is actually quite similar (albeit much more professional) to the photographer who created the M.C. Escher water drop image last year. With a handmade wooden rig that both holds the water dropper and the backdrop that will show up in the droplet, Reugels stands behind his camera, poised to get the perfect shot -even after multiple failures.

“There are so many factors who will influence the result – the viscosity of the water ,the height of the drops, the nozzle size even the temperature of the water,” he says.

As someone with little patience, I highly commend this wonderful photographer, not only for his ingenuity, but for the dedication it takes to shoot something that requires such precision. Mr. Reugels, my hat goes off to you.

Come With A Story, Leave With Another

2012-04-29T20:11:49Z

The best thing about a library is that when you’re done reading one book, you can just trade it in for another. This way, you never have to run out of new titles to enjoy and you never have to pay a cent for the privilege of borrowing a book – provided you return your rentals on time. But how do you advertise that benefit without actually spelling it out to your target audience? Well, Colombia advertising company Lowe/SSP3 found a pretty good way to do so for the Colsubsidio Book Exchange with these clever ads that use the slogan “Come in With a Story and Leave With Another.” Can you recognize the books being referenced below?

It’s elementary, my dear Snow White

Just in case you need a little help, here are the answers – The top one, my personal favorite (and easiest to decipher), is Snow White with Sherlock Holmes. The second, that would be Little Red Riding Hood partnering with Moby Dick. That one took me a while because the whale is so weirdly shaped. Lastly, we have Harry Potter paired with a Trojan horse.

Aside from the clever imagery, the great thing about these ads is that they remind you that no matter what kind of fiction you enjoy, fantasy, mystery, fairy tales, contemporary, classics, or antiquities, you’re sure to find whatever you’re looking for, not just at the Colsubsidio Book Exchange, but any local library you happen to visit. And that’s something every book lover can appreciate.

That Caterpillar Keeps Chirping

2012-04-26T02:33:12Z

Just look at that cute, fuzzy little caterpillar. It has such vibrant colors and those spines seem so unintimidating that they’re mere existence is actually kind of adorable.

But, wait a minute… we are on Mighty Optical Illusions blog! An ordinary picture of a caterpillar (no matter how cute it is), would just be weird here. Fortunately, this’s not a little baby butterfly, it’s actually a group of European Bee-eaters cuddling together on a small tree branch. The birds do look so much like a caterpillar though, that photographer José Luis Rodríguez named the image Oruga de Plumas, or “caterpillar of feathers.”

The Art of Shadow and Light

2012-04-23T18:39:48Z

The real key to making shadow art isn’t the shadow itself, but the light and the objects blocking the light that eventually come together to make an image in the darkness. That’s why it’s actually a bit surprising that so few of the artists working with this format have experimented with objects that do not block the light, but instead just manipulate it.

That’s why this design by Azerbaijan artist Rashad Alakbarov is simply so wonderful. The colored glass pieces block the light, using the same concept as shadow art, but the result is something so much more beautiful – an entire painting created with nothing more than a colored light.

Like other artists operating in this niche, Alakbarov has made his share of wonderful shadow installations as well.

Azerbaijan is a fairly small country that is not known for its fine art community, but Alakbarov is making quite a name for himself and may soon become an internationally renowned artist for his skillful installations.

While this is great news for the artist, it could also be huge for the country as a whole, inspiring children throughout the nation to realize that they too can become world-recognized artists if they just follow their dreams. Although the country has had a handful of successful artists come from within its borders, few Azerbaijani contemporary artists have emerged in recent years and every new notable artist from the country is worth celebrating.

For those of us who live in a large country, particularly in a massive city, this is something easy to take for granted, but the importance of role models in various industries is something that can’t be overstated.

While the rest of artist’s illusions are strong as well, I, for one hope, he makes more colored light illusions as they are something truly unique that will really help him stand out from the crowd. Not to mention, I just like looking at them and I hope you guys do too!

Mona Lisa Manga Optical Illusion

2012-04-21T15:41:01Z

The Internet has gone crazy for this new Mona Lisa optical illusion! However, I don’t find it that amazing, though. Still, it would seem unprofessional if I ignored the general opinion and omitted this from our optical illusion blog, when even main-stream media like Gizmodo have broadcasted the story. What you have to do for this to work, is take a step back (or two) from your monitor and then look at the Mona Lisa below. On the right you may see the original, while mirrored on the left you have Mona littered with an old manga sticker. Supposedly you are now standing few meters away from your monitor, and observing the photo – are you still able to see the sticker? The manga is from 1990s macho manga Baki the Grappler and depicts character called Retsu Kaioh, or rather – Mona Lisa’s eye.

Cathedral Of Commerce Illusion

2012-04-18T19:06:07Z

Here and then I like to feature artwork done Rob Gonsalves, specially those magical transformations he’s best know for. If you remember, there were these two optical illusions where you had to guess at which point do the ships transform into giant aqueduct, and vice versa. The other one included camels and palm trees. Rob, who is the author of all these great paintings, ones that often get associated with optical illusions in general (and are often used to represent the whole optical illusion vertical), has created another interesting painting titled “Cathedral of Commerce”. After a little digging, I’ve learned that this term was used for the Woolworth Building (NYC), one of the oldest, and among fifty-tallest buildings in the United States! Enough with the fun-facts, let’s see if you can pinpoint where exactly does the cathedral turns into a city, in this image below:

Inspirations: Art of M.C. Escher

2012-04-15T01:32:22Z

Two years ago, a Spanish filmmaker Cristóbal Vila shot an exquisite short movie “Nature by Numbers“, which captured the ways in which mathematical concepts like Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Number exist in nature. Vila has now returned with even more magnificent film called “Inspirations”, which tries to imagine what M.C. Escher’s workplace might have looked like.

Since you are probably well aware of M.C. Escher and his work by now, you may jump straight to playing the film. But be sure to pay close attention, and see how many references to great mathematical problems, puzzles, and optical illusions we have featured in the past you can count. Each one of the objects found in this film has an interesting story behind it – for example, Seven Bridges of Königsberg is a historically notable problem in mathematics. Same goes for Wheats and Chessboard story, one that talks about invention of chess.

Then there is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Da Vinci’s Self Supporting Bridge, etc… Let’s see how many great stories and puzzles can you find! Be sure to share your findings in the comments section below, as I’m more than eager to see which ones I might have missed! BTW this video has provided me with endless inspiration, specially when it comes to decorating my office in days to come ;)

“What things would surround an artist like him, so deeply interested in science in general and mathematics in particular.” – Cristóbal Vila