PURPOSE: To demonstrate a type of anamorphic art.
DESCRIPTION: Anamorphic art is art which has been drawn in a highly distorted fashion, but which is seen as normal or undistorted when viewed from a certain point or with the aid of some (normally distorting) optical device, such as a cylindrical or a conical mirror. The above picture, drawn by Larry Geusz, a former student in our introductory optics course for non-science students, is viewed using a conical mirror placed at the center of the drawing. The distorted larger drawing is seen in a "normal" view in the small central circle. Notice that the picture is drawn "inside out," so the entire outer circle corresponds to the center point in the reflected image. It is best viewed with one eye on the axis of the cone and the other eye closed.
Move mouse over lower image to see the anamorph from the wrong perspective.
SUGGESTIONS: Above are two examples of sidewalk anamorphic art called Virtual Street Reality by Julian Beever, an English artist who is famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. More of Beever's street art is shown on the web site http://www.rense.com/general67/street.htm.
REFERENCES: (PIRA unknown.) See Demonstration Reference File for information on anamorphic art works and how to construct these distorted drawings.
EQUIPMENT: Conical anamorphic art.
SETUP TIME: None.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |