Photo of impossible triangle The conventions of classical perspective are very effective at simulating such reality, permitting “photographic” representation of nature. This representation is incomplete in several ways. It does not allow us to see the scene from different vantage points, to walk into it, or two view objects from all sides. It does not even give us the stereoscopic depth sensation that a real object would have due to the lateral separation of our two eyes. A flat painting or drawing represents a scene from only one fixed viewpoint, as does an ordinary monocular photograph.
One class of illusions appears at first look to be ordinary “perspective” renderings of solid, three dimensional objects or scenes. But on closer examination, they reveal internal contradictions such that the three dimensional scene they depict could not exist in reality. These pictures have a special fascination for those of us used to the convention of depicting nature on a flat surface of paper, canvas, or in a photograph.
Isometric illusory art was created as early as 1934 by Swedish Artist Oscar Reutersvärd with the impossible arrangement of blocks shown here. The colors in this version are not to be blamed on Oscar. This design has been widely used, and even appears on a Swedish postage stamp. |