Anamorphism
Encyclopedia
Anamorphosis is a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image. The word "anamorphosis" is derived from the Greek prefix ana-, meaning back or again, and the word morphe, meaning shape or form.
With mirror anamorphosis, a conical or cylindrical mirror
is placed on the drawing or painting to transform a flat distorted image into a three dimensional picture that can be viewed from many angles. The deformed image is painted on a plane surface surrounding the mirror. By looking uniquely into the mirror, the image appears undeformed. This process of anamorphosis made it possible to diffuse caricatures, erotic and scatologic scenes and scenes of sorcery for a confidential public.
Leonardo's Eye (Leonardo da Vinci
, c. 1485) is the earliest known definitive example of perspective anamorphosis. The prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux may also possess this technique because the oblique angles of the cave would otherwise result in distorted figures from a viewer's perspective.
Hans Holbein the Younger
is well known for incorporating this type of anamorphic trick. His painting The Ambassadors
is the most famous example for anamorphosis, in which a distorted shape lies diagonally across the bottom of the frame. Viewing this from an acute angle transforms it into the plastic image of a skull.
During the 17th century, Baroque
trompe l'oeil
murals often used this technique to combine actual architectural elements with an illusion. When standing in front of the art work in a specific spot, the architecture blends with the decorative painting.
The dome and vault of the Church of St. Ignazio
in Rome
, painted by Andrea Pozzo
, represented the pinnacle of illusion. Due to complaints of blocked light by neighbouring monks, Pozzo was commissioned to paint the ceiling to look like the inside of a dome, instead of actually constructing one. However, the ceiling is flat, and there is only one spot where the illusion is perfect and a dome looks real.
In 18th and in 19th century, anamorphic images had come to be used more as children's games than fine art. In the 20th century some artists wanted to renew the technique of anamorphosis. Important to mention is Marcel Duchamp
's interest in anamorphosis, some of his installations are paraphrases of anamorphoses (See The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even
/The Large Glass). Salvador Dalí
also utilized the effect in a number of his paintings. Jan Dibbets
conceptual works, the so-called "perspective corrections" are examples of "linear" anamorphoses. In the late 20th Century, mirror anamorphosis was revived as children's toys and games.
The Swedish artist Hans Hamngren produced and exhibited a great deal of examples of the mirror anamorphosis in the 60s and 70s. Shigeo Fukuda
, a Japanese artist, designed both types of anamorphosis in the 70s and 80s. Also Patrick Hughes (artist)
, Fujio Watanabe, William Kentridge
, István Orosz
, Felice Varini
, Matthew Ngui, Kelly Houle, Nigel Williams
, and Judy Grace are fine artists creating anamorphic images. Currently, Myrna Hoffman designs anamorphoses for children's interactive toys.
Another form of anamorphic art is often called "Slant Art." Examples are the sidewalk chalk paintings of Kurt Wenner
and Julian Beever
where the chalk painting, the pavement and the architectural surroundings all become part of an illusion. Art of this style can be produced by taking a photograph of an object or setting at a sharp angle, then putting a grid over the photo, another, elongated grid on the footpath based on a specific perspective, and reproducing exactly the contents of one into the other, one square at a time.
Cinemascope
, Panavision
, Technirama
and other widescreen
formats use anamorphosis to project a wider image from a narrower film frame.
The system of anamorphic projection can be seen quite commonly on text written at a very flat angle on roadways — such as "Bus Lane" or "Children Crossing" — which is easily read by drivers who otherwise would have difficulty reading as the vehicle approaches the text; when the vehicle is nearly above the text, its true abnormally elongated shape can be seen. Similarly, in many sporting stadiums, especially in Rugby football in Australia
, it is used to promote company brands which are painted onto the playing surface; from the television camera angle, the writing appear as signs standing vertically within the field of play.
On some 0.5 liter Sprite
bottles in Europe, an extra "bar code" was present. When the bottle is tilted towards the mouth while drinking, the bar code resolves into writing due to the anamorphic effect.
and mathematician Roger Penrose
. Although referred to as impossible objects such objects as the Necker Cube
and the Penrose triangle
can be built using anamorphosis. When viewed at a certain angle such sculptures appear as the so-called impossible objects.
Rick Wakeman
's 1976 album
No Earthly Connection
features front and back cover photographs that are mirror anamorphoses. The original vinyl
release included a mirrored mylar sheet which could be curled into a cylinder for viewing the images.
In the 2008 detective
film Anamorph
, the plot line revolves around the solution of gruesome anamorphically distorted images.
The 2009 Video Game Batman: Arkham Asylum
has a series of riddles posed by the classic Batman
antagonist The Riddler, the solution of which is based on perspective anamorphosis.
Types of projection
There are two main types of anamorphosis: Perspective (oblique) and Mirror (catoptric). Examples of perspectival anamorphosis date to the early Renaissance (15th Century). Examples of mirror anamorphosis were first created in the late Renaissance (16th Century).With mirror anamorphosis, a conical or cylindrical mirror
Mirror
A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...
is placed on the drawing or painting to transform a flat distorted image into a three dimensional picture that can be viewed from many angles. The deformed image is painted on a plane surface surrounding the mirror. By looking uniquely into the mirror, the image appears undeformed. This process of anamorphosis made it possible to diffuse caricatures, erotic and scatologic scenes and scenes of sorcery for a confidential public.
History of anamorphosis
Leonardo's Eye (Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, c. 1485) is the earliest known definitive example of perspective anamorphosis. The prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux may also possess this technique because the oblique angles of the cave would otherwise result in distorted figures from a viewer's perspective.
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
is well known for incorporating this type of anamorphic trick. His painting The Ambassadors
The Ambassadors (Holbein)
The Ambassadors is a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger in the National Gallery, London. As well as being a double portrait, the painting contains a still life of several meticulously rendered objects, the meaning of which is the cause of much debate...
is the most famous example for anamorphosis, in which a distorted shape lies diagonally across the bottom of the frame. Viewing this from an acute angle transforms it into the plastic image of a skull.
During the 17th century, Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
trompe l'oeil
Trompe l'oeil
Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.-History in painting:Although the phrase has its origin in...
murals often used this technique to combine actual architectural elements with an illusion. When standing in front of the art work in a specific spot, the architecture blends with the decorative painting.
The dome and vault of the Church of St. Ignazio
Sant'Ignazio
The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius is Roman Catholic titular church dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, located in Rome, Italy...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, painted by Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo was an Italian Jesuit Brother, Baroque painter and architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. He was best known for his grandiose frescoes using illusionistic technique called quadratura, in which architecture and fancy are intermixed...
, represented the pinnacle of illusion. Due to complaints of blocked light by neighbouring monks, Pozzo was commissioned to paint the ceiling to look like the inside of a dome, instead of actually constructing one. However, the ceiling is flat, and there is only one spot where the illusion is perfect and a dome looks real.
In 18th and in 19th century, anamorphic images had come to be used more as children's games than fine art. In the 20th century some artists wanted to renew the technique of anamorphosis. Important to mention is Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
's interest in anamorphosis, some of his installations are paraphrases of anamorphoses (See The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even
The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even
The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even , most often called The Large Glass , is an artwork by Marcel Duchamp....
/The Large Glass). Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
also utilized the effect in a number of his paintings. Jan Dibbets
Jan Dibbets
Jan Dibbets , is a Dutch conceptual artist.In 1994, he was commissioned by the Arago Association to create a memorial to the French astronomer François Arago, known as Hommage à Arago...
conceptual works, the so-called "perspective corrections" are examples of "linear" anamorphoses. In the late 20th Century, mirror anamorphosis was revived as children's toys and games.
"Anamorphic" effects in the work of contemporary artists
Shigeo Fukuda
was a sculptor, graphic artist and poster designer who created optical illusions. His art pieces usually portray deception, such as Lunch With a Helmet On, a sculpture created entirely from forks, knives, and spoons, that casts a detailed shadow of a motorcycle....
, a Japanese artist, designed both types of anamorphosis in the 70s and 80s. Also Patrick Hughes (artist)
Patrick Hughes (artist)
Patrick Hughes is a British artist working in London. He is the creator of "reverspective", an optical illusion on a 3-dimensional surface where the parts of the picture which seem farthest away are actually physically the nearest....
, Fujio Watanabe, William Kentridge
William Kentridge
William Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two...
, István Orosz
István Orosz
István Orosz Hungarian painter, printmaker, graphic designer and animated film director, is known for his mathematically inspired works, impossible objects, optical illusions, double-meaning images and anamorphoses. The geometric art of István Orosz, with forced perspectives and optical...
, Felice Varini
Felice Varini
Felice Varini is a Swiss artist who was nominated for the 2000/2001 Marcel Duchamp Prize, known for his geometric perspective-localized paintings of rooms and other spaces, using projector-stencil techniques...
, Matthew Ngui, Kelly Houle, Nigel Williams
Nigel Williams
Nigel Williams may refer to:*Nigel Williams , British novelist, screenwriter and playwright.*Nigel Williams , American ice hockey defenceman.*Nigel Williams , English former professional footballer....
, and Judy Grace are fine artists creating anamorphic images. Currently, Myrna Hoffman designs anamorphoses for children's interactive toys.
Another form of anamorphic art is often called "Slant Art." Examples are the sidewalk chalk paintings of Kurt Wenner
Kurt Wenner
Kurt Wenner is an artist with an international following. He is best known for his invention of 3D pavement art. Wenner was inspired by anamorphic perspective, but had to invent an entirely new geometry in order to create his stunning 3D pavement art images.-Career:Kurt Wenner produced his first...
and Julian Beever
Julian Beever
Julian Beever is an English chalk artist who has been creating trompe-l'œil chalk drawings on pavement surfaces since the mid-1990s. He uses a projection technique called anamorphosis to create the illusion of three dimensions when viewed from the correct angle...
where the chalk painting, the pavement and the architectural surroundings all become part of an illusion. Art of this style can be produced by taking a photograph of an object or setting at a sharp angle, then putting a grid over the photo, another, elongated grid on the footpath based on a specific perspective, and reproducing exactly the contents of one into the other, one square at a time.
Cinemascope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, Panavision
Panavision
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...
, Technirama
Technirama
Technirama is a screen process that was used by some film production houses as an alternative to CinemaScope. It was first used in 1957 but fell into disuse in the mid 1960s...
and other widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
formats use anamorphosis to project a wider image from a narrower film frame.
The system of anamorphic projection can be seen quite commonly on text written at a very flat angle on roadways — such as "Bus Lane" or "Children Crossing" — which is easily read by drivers who otherwise would have difficulty reading as the vehicle approaches the text; when the vehicle is nearly above the text, its true abnormally elongated shape can be seen. Similarly, in many sporting stadiums, especially in Rugby football in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, it is used to promote company brands which are painted onto the playing surface; from the television camera angle, the writing appear as signs standing vertically within the field of play.
On some 0.5 liter Sprite
Sprite (soft drink)
Sprite is a transparent, lemon-lime flavored , caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in 1961. This was Coke's response to the popularity of 7 Up, which had begun as "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" in 1929...
bottles in Europe, an extra "bar code" was present. When the bottle is tilted towards the mouth while drinking, the bar code resolves into writing due to the anamorphic effect.
Impossible objects
In the twentieth century artists began to play with perspective by drawing impossible objects. These objects included stairs that always go up or cubes where the back meets the front. Such works were popularized by artist M. C. EscherM. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...
and mathematician Roger Penrose
Roger Penrose
Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
. Although referred to as impossible objects such objects as the Necker Cube
Necker cube
The Necker Cube is an optical illusion first published as a rhomboid in 1832 by Swiss crystallographer Louis Albert Necker.-Ambiguity:The Necker Cube is an ambiguous line drawing....
and the Penrose triangle
Penrose triangle
The Penrose triangle, also known as the Penrose tribar, is an impossible object. It was first created by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934. The mathematician Roger Penrose independently devised and popularised it in the 1950s, describing it as "impossibility in its purest form". It is...
can be built using anamorphosis. When viewed at a certain angle such sculptures appear as the so-called impossible objects.
Anamorphosis in popular culture
Since 1993, Myrna Hoffman’s company, OOZ & OZ, has been producing mirror anamorphosis art kits and activities for children. The image below is from Hoffman's Morph-O-Scopes Kit - "Sports of All Sorts". OOZ & OZ Kits have earned more than two dozen national toy awards.Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
's 1976 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
No Earthly Connection
No Earthly Connection
No Earthly Connection is a 1976 progressive rock concept album by Rick Wakeman. It was recorded in France for tax purposes.The LP record's sleeve attributes the album to Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble...
features front and back cover photographs that are mirror anamorphoses. The original vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
release included a mirrored mylar sheet which could be curled into a cylinder for viewing the images.
In the 2008 detective
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
film Anamorph
Anamorph (film)
Anamorph is an independent psychological thriller film directed by Henry S. Miller and starring Willem Dafoe. Dafoe plays a seasoned detective named Stan Aubray, who notices that a case he has been assigned to bears a striking similarity to a previous case of his...
, the plot line revolves around the solution of gruesome anamorphically distorted images.
The 2009 Video Game Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action-adventure stealth video game based on DC Comics' Batman developed for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment...
has a series of riddles posed by the classic Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
antagonist The Riddler, the solution of which is based on perspective anamorphosis.
See also
- Adelbert Ames Jr. Ames Demonstrations
- Anamorphic formatAnamorphic formatAnamorphic format is a term that can be used either for: the cinematography technique of capturing a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other visual recording media, with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio; or a photographic projection format in which the original image requires an...
, a widescreen film technique - Anamorphic widescreenAnamorphic widescreenAnamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
, a widescreen video encoding concept - Arthur MoleArthur MoleArthur S. Mole was an English commercial artist who became famous for a series of "living photographs" made during World War I, in which tens of thousands of soldiers, reservists and other members of the military were arranged to form massive compositions...
- Image warpingImage warpingImage warping is the process of digitally manipulating an image such that any shapes portrayed in the image have been significantly distorted. Warping may be used for correcting image distortion as well as for creative purposes...
- Perspective correction
- Mad Fold-inMAD fold-inThe Mad Fold-In is a feature found on the inside back cover of virtually every Mad magazine since 1964. Written and drawn by Al Jaffee, the Fold-In is one of the most well-known aspects of the magazine...
Artists
- Hans Holbein the YoungerHans Holbein the YoungerHans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
- Andrea PozzoAndrea PozzoAndrea Pozzo was an Italian Jesuit Brother, Baroque painter and architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. He was best known for his grandiose frescoes using illusionistic technique called quadratura, in which architecture and fancy are intermixed...
- Shigeo FukudaShigeo Fukudawas a sculptor, graphic artist and poster designer who created optical illusions. His art pieces usually portray deception, such as Lunch With a Helmet On, a sculpture created entirely from forks, knives, and spoons, that casts a detailed shadow of a motorcycle....
- István OroszIstván OroszIstván Orosz Hungarian painter, printmaker, graphic designer and animated film director, is known for his mathematically inspired works, impossible objects, optical illusions, double-meaning images and anamorphoses. The geometric art of István Orosz, with forced perspectives and optical...
- Felice VariniFelice VariniFelice Varini is a Swiss artist who was nominated for the 2000/2001 Marcel Duchamp Prize, known for his geometric perspective-localized paintings of rooms and other spaces, using projector-stencil techniques...
- Dan Collins
- Tracy Lee StumTracy Lee Stum"Tracy Lee Stum" is an American artist best known for her spectacular/large interactive3d street paintings or chalk drawings.An internationally respected talent, Stum is recognized as the leading female streetpainter in the world today...
- Georges RousseGeorges Rousse"Georges Rousse is a French artist.When he was 9 years old, Rousse received the legendary Kodak Brownie camera as a Christmas gift. Since then, the camera has never left his side. While attending medical school in Nice, he decided to study professional photography and printing techniques, then...
- Michael KirbyMichael KirbyMichael Donald Kirby AC, CMG, is an Australian retired judge, jurist, and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009.-Biography:Michael Kirby attended Fort Street High School in Sydney...
- Julian BeeverJulian BeeverJulian Beever is an English chalk artist who has been creating trompe-l'œil chalk drawings on pavement surfaces since the mid-1990s. He uses a projection technique called anamorphosis to create the illusion of three dimensions when viewed from the correct angle...
- Peter DazeleyPeter DazeleyPeter Dazeley, known as Dazeley, is a photographer living and working in London, renowned for fine art, advertising, anamorphic and nude photography and he also does flower photography.- Biography :...
- Kurt WennerKurt WennerKurt Wenner is an artist with an international following. He is best known for his invention of 3D pavement art. Wenner was inspired by anamorphic perspective, but had to invent an entirely new geometry in order to create his stunning 3D pavement art images.-Career:Kurt Wenner produced his first...
- Edgar MüllerEdgar MüllerEdgar Müller is, "one of the world's top 3-D illusionist street painters,", he is, "one of the best known street painters in the world thanks to his YouTube videos", and has been featured as "Maestro Madonnaro" at the Sarasota Chalk Festival.At the Avenida de Colores, Inc...
- Manfred Stader
External links
- Anamorphic toys for children - 21st Century - created by OOZ & OZ
- Adelbert Ames, Fritz Heider and the Ames Chair Demonstration
- Quadraxis, Anamorphosis calculation for Sleeve, Thermoforming and Metal Can
- Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other artists
- Phillip Kent: Art of Anamorphosis
- Jan Dibbets
- Patrick Hughes
- Some examples of anamorphosis
- Contemporary works
- Kelly Houle
- István Orosz
- Sergio Tringali
- http://www.welshartsarchive.org.uk/galleries/nigel_landscapes.html
- Descriptive Geometry and Anamorphoses
- The 'Pericentric' lens - makes anamorphic circular images from cylindrical objects
- Anamorphic illusions by Manfred Stader
- Anamorphic art at New Scientist
- The Art of Deception - slideshow by The First PostThe First PostThe First Post is a British daily online news magazine based in London. It was launched in August 2005. It publishes news, current affairs, lifestyle, opinion, arts and sports pages, and it features an online games arcade and a cinema featuring short films, virals, trailers and eyewitness news...