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Art Of Optical Illusions Paperback – September 1, 2000
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- Print length160 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherCarlton Books Ltd
- Publication dateSeptember 1, 2000
- Dimensions9 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches
- ISBN-101842220543
- ISBN-13978-1842220542
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Product details
- Publisher : Carlton Books Ltd; 1st edition (September 1, 2000)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 160 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1842220543
- ISBN-13 : 978-1842220542
- Item Weight : 1.4 pounds
- Dimensions : 9 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,758,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,651 in Graphic Design Techniques
- #16,411 in Arts & Photography Criticism
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This is a fine collection of 144 intriguing illusions.There are examples of a lot of different forms of illusions.I say a lot because there is one form which I like which is not included. That being "trompe-l'oeil" which is French for still-life deception,illusion,sham or camouflage.A well known artist who excels at it is Bev Doolittle.
Al has included many of the classic illusions,of which 105 is an example from the puzzle master Sam Loyd,and crops up in many books.No.5 is really good being a combination of a photograph of a man holding an "impossible figure".Nos.10 & 104 are similar,but 10 jumps out at me while 104 is something else!No.26 and 139 would have to be called "real illusions".No.139 reminds me of an experience I had on the Marsh Boardwalk at Point Pelee National Park during spring bird migration.An American Bittern,which stands about 20 inches tall, was standing in the reeds about 30 feet from me in a similar pose;except the bill was pointed straight up.The bird held itself completely motionless while I pointed it out to quite a few people over a period of a half hour or so.Some had great dificulty in picking it out,even with binoculars.What a thrill it was for them when they finally "found it".
A few are ageless ones namely,14(which reminds me of another of a girl in a mirror),77,95,147 and 144 ;but always good to see again.No. 119 is a switch where you get to make and solve your own illusion or puzzle.
Kudos to Jerry,see review of Oct 23,2000,who states:
"The mind is blind to what the eye can't see".Well said!
Anyway, a great treatment of illusions and sure to catch the interest of young and not so young,and all in between.
'
A sensory illusion is essentially a deception in which physical stimuli are arranged in such a way as to make them appear different from what they really are. It is a form of cheating the senses through appearances. But why would anyone be interested in such distortions?
Painters, of course, were the first professionals to make full use of visual deception by making our eyes believe that when we are looking at their two-dimensional canvasses we are seeing a thre-dimensional world. They cheated our eyes (and our brains too) into contributing "depth" to their flat works. Velazquez's great "Las Meninas" is the prototype of how optical illusions can be elevated to great art.
But there is much more to it than that: decorators, designers, psychologists, philosophers (Aristotle was intrigued by the sensory illusion, illustrated in this book, in which a person "senses" that they have two noses), engineers, children, physicians, and the generally curious should take some time to be entertained by by these figures, for illusions can be a wellspring to unexpected creativity.
Recently V. S. Ramachandran, a physician and neuroscientist, started using optical illusions to control the intractable pain experienced by amputees in their missing limbs. His book is called "Phantoms in the Brain." Ah, you may say, how can it be possible for a hand that no longer exists to create an itch (an unscratchable itch, of course) or a pain, or even a sensation in the amputee? Ell, it does, to the extent that some amputees are driven to suicide by their intractable illusions of pain and itch and discomfort in their non-exiting limbs. Ramachandran combats one sensory illusion (of pain) with a visual illusion of an existing hand, and amazingly teaches the victims of "phantom" limbs how to obtain relief that way.
Personally, I bought this volume to give to a young friend for her 10th birthday. This book (and a ruler) will teach her that things in this world are frequently not the way they appear to be. She might as well learn that bit of scientific intelligence as soon as possible.







