The Magical Eyes and Art
Haini Lin
Integrative Seminar 2.B01.Su15
Instructor Nicola Tulk
June 23, 2015
There are many different ways for art use physical perception as a key element in the work. After reading Vision and Art:The biology of seeing written by Margaret Livingstone and David H. Hubel, Masters of Deception:Escher, Dalí & the artists of optical illusion written by Al Seckel, and The Museum of Illusions Optical tricks in art written by Céline Delavaux. There are three interesting observations about how does art use human vision as a key element in the work. The first observation is changing the size of the images will affect what we see. Another one is a powerful contrast of what we see will affect our concentration and give people an illusion of motion. The last but not least, sharing forms or lines will affect people’s vision of seeing the same artwork in many different ways.
Changing the size of the image or the main object will affect what we see. When we look at the objects and the environment surrounding us, each eye will change the size of the images with distance. Therefore, we will receive two smaller images by our two-dimensional retinas. Then our brain will package those two images into one three-dimensional image. According to Vision and art:The biology if seeing, Margaret Livingstone and Harry N. Abrams assists that “Artists must look at a three-dimensional with their two-dimensional retinas and then generate a two dimensional painting that appears three dimensional to viewers who look at it with their two dimensional retinas.”1 Our eye is like a camera, shooting a number of images each second. However, the difference between our eyes and camera is that each eye is shooting from different perceptions. Therefore, our eyes are not seeing the regular size of the object, but the smaller size. Additionally, our two visions will have a vanish point, and everything near by that vanish point will become smaller than the thing which is in the front. Then our brain will help us to interpret two images into one three dimensional space. If a painter wanted to paint a three-dimensional painting, the painter is not painting with the regular image size but the image that has been changed sized after the painter sees it. Afterwards, painter will add shadings and other depth cues or some artist techniques to build a three-dimensional feeling for viewers. However, some artists interesting about change the size of the objects in the image to tricks people’s eyes, and make the image looks even more reality. For example, Escaping Criticism (1874), painted by Pere Borrell Del Caso, producing an image of an anxious young boy escaping through a picture frame.2 Unlike other artists who create a simple portrait inside of a picture frame, the young boy has been painted bigger than the regular size. The hair, some figures and right foot is out of the frame and has been painted on the top of the frame, which looks more realistic.
Seeing an image that has a powerful contrast will effect our concentration and create an illusion of motion. Therefore, many artists use contrasting colors or “equiluminant colors” to tread viewer’s eyes, and make their eyes hard to focus on the same spot. As this reason, our brain will hard to distinguish where is the shading, and then our eyes will get tried in a short time. According to Margaret Livingstone and David H. Hubel ‘s book entitled Vision and Art: the biology of seeing, two authors argue that “ Because of the Where system is sensitive to contrasts, alternating contrast impairs out ability to get the gestalt of the text, forcing us to read slowly…The Initially exciting feels aggressive and often even uncomfortable for our eyes.”3 This is a system that artwork treats our eyes and our eyes treat out brain. For many artists like Isia Leviant and Bridget Riley, they use depth cues or artistic techniques to create some illusion of motions. For example, Bridget Riley’s Fall used strong contrast lines, two powerful contrast colors, black and white, and repetitive pattern to confuse viewers eyes and make them think this two dimensional artwork is having a strong three dimensional movement. Another example is The Scintillating Grid Illusion that was discovered by Elke Lingelbach in 1994. It is about having black as the background color, grid gray cross lines and white circles in each crossing spot. When we see this artwork, our eyes will have an illusion about some inexistent flashing black spots appear and disappear in this artwork. Additionally, Rotating Snakes (2003) that created by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, which has a strong vision illusion that circular snakes appears to rotate “spontaneously”.4 In this image, Kitaoka also used some strong color contrasts to trick people’s eyes, such as black, white, lemon yellow and blue. Furthermore, Kitaoka also used line contrast that making the length of each circular gradually become thinner. Sometimes, our eyes will get an illusion about the thing we see, and it might affect the way we see arts. Therefore, one of the best ways to create the illusion is using powerful contrast.
Another observation is about having some common forms or lines allow people to see the same artwork in many different ways. When we see some two meaning artworks, our eyes will gradually sprit one image into two totally different images due to the common forms or lines. For example, William Ely Hill‘s drawing My Wife and My Mother-in-Law (1915), viewer is able to see two different images in this drawing. One is a young lady, and another one is an old woman. The form of the old woman’s noise is sharing with the young lady’s cheek. Young lady’s right ear can be represent as the old lady’s right eye. At the first time, people might only see one image. However, after we had alerted about it is a two meaning image, our eyes will keep spiriting forms and recombining into another image. After the viewer has been seen both images, he can easily switch between those two images. “Human vision can process reality in a number of different ways and that it can move from one image to another, which suggests that perception is intimately bound up with the mental faculty of understanding” discoursed by Céline Delavaux. Therefore, our vision will combine or take apart of those sharing spaces and lines in the same artwork, and create two or more images beside on different perceptions. There is another example, M. C. Escher’s famous print Waterfall (1961), Escher used three impossible triangles to illustrate an impossible waterfall, and the water is able to fall in an infinity way.5 The reason is the common side of each triangle and the common pillars produce an illusion for viewer to see whether there is a two tiers building or a three tiers building in the same images. I believe this is the power for our eyes to recognize two different images by sprit and package the sharing forms and lines in the two meaning image.
Three interesting observations that I have discovered beside on Vision and Art “The biology of seeing” written by Margaret Livingstone and David H. Hubel, Masters of Deception “Escher, Dalí & the artists of optical illusion” written by Al Seckel, and The Museum of Illusions “Optical tricks in art” written by Céline Delavaux. Changing the size of the images will affect what we see; using the powerful contrast of what we see will affect our concentration and give people an illusion of motion; and sharing forms or lines will affect people’s vision of seeing the same artwork in many different ways are three different ways for art to use eye as a key element in the work. Those three observations show how well our eyes can be trick or can exert in different ways, and I believe there must be more ways for people to use human vision to see art. Showing art in a unique way will give people more opportunities to enjoy seeing the world.
End Note
1.Margaret Livingstone, and David H. Hubel,Vision and art: The biology of seeing.(Vol. 2. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002), 100.
2.Céline Delavaux, The Museum of Illusions: Optical Tricks in Art. (Prestel Verlag, Munich, London, New York, 2013), 25.
3.Margaret Livingstone, and David H. Hubel, Vision and art: The biology of seeing. (Vol. 2. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002), 158.
4.Al Seckel, Masters of deception: Escher, Dalí & the artists of optical illusion. (Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2004), 157.
5. Céline Delavaux, The Museum of Illusions: Optical Tricks in Art. (Prestel Verlag, Munich, London, New York, 2013), 92.
Bibliography
Livingstone, Margaret, and David H. Hubel. Vision and art: The biology of seeing. Vol. 2. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002.
Seckel, Al. Masters of deception: Escher, Dalí & the artists of optical illusion. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2004.
Delavaux Céline. The Museum of Illusions: Optical Tricks in Art. Prestel Verlag, Munich, London, New York, 2013.
