anamorphosis

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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.

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 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 scatological scenes and scenes of sorcery for a confidential public.

History of anamorphosis

Andrea Pozzo's painted ceiling in the Church of St. Ignazio

Holbein's The Ambassadors with a Memento mori anamorph skull in the foreground

Undistorted skull from Holbein's The Ambassadors

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.

"Anamorphic" effects in the work of contemporary artists

István Orosz: Mirror Anamorphosis with Column

István Orosz: Mirror Anamorphosis with Column (Technique of the distortion)

Manfred Stader

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.

The Dutch artist Leon Keer made an optical illusion painting with a life-size mirror cylinder during the 3d street painting event FringeMK in 2010 [1]

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.

3d street painting Lego Terracotta Army by Leon Keer

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.^{[citation needed]}

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. Escher 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.

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.^[1] Hoffman's kits have earned more than two dozen national toy awards.^{[citation needed]}

Anamorphic art toy by Myrna Hoffman

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.^[2]

In the 2008 detective film Anamorph, the plot line revolves around the solution of gruesome anamorphically distorted images.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[3]

Notes

See also

• Adelbert Ames Jr. Ames Demonstrations
• Anamorphic format, a widescreen film technique
• Anamorphic widescreen, a widescreen video encoding concept
• Arthur Mole
• Image warping
• Perspective correction
• Mad Fold-in

Artists

Bibliography

• Baltrusaitis, Jurgis: Anamorphoses ou Thaumaturgus opticus. Flammarion, Paris, 1984.
• Behrens, R.R. (2009a). "Adelbert Ames II" entry in Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage. Dysart IA: Bobolink Books, pp. 25–26. ISBN 0-9713244-6-8.
• Behrens, R.R. (2009b). "Ames Demonstrations in Perception" in E. Bruce Goldstein, ed., Encyclopedia of Perception. Sage Publications, pp. 41–44. ISBN 978-1-4129-4081-8.
• Cole, Alison: Perspective. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London, 1992.
• Collins, Daniel L.: Anamorphosis and the Eccentric Observer. Leonardo, Berkeley, 1992.
• Damisch, Hubert: L’Origine de la perspective. Flammarion, Paris, 1987.
• Du Breuil, La Pere: La Perspective pratique. Paris, 1649.
• Foister, Susan, Roz Ashok, Wyld Martin: Holbein’s Ambassadors. National Gallery Publications, London
• Houle, Kelly: Portrait of Escher: Behind the Mirror. M.C. Escher's Legacy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2003.
• Kircher, Athanasius: Ars Magna lucis et umbrae in decem Libros digesta. Roma, 1646.
• Lanners, Edi: Illusionen. VerlagC.J.Bucher GmbH, München und Luzern, 1973.
• Leemann, Fred: Anamorphosen. DuMont Buchverlag, Köln, 1975.
• Leemann, Fred: Hidden Images. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, NewYork, 1976.
• Maignan, Emmanuel: Perspectiva horaria, sive de Horographia gnomonica…. Roma, 1648.
• Mastai, M.L.d’Otrange: Illusion in Art. Abaris Books, New York, 1975.
• Niceron, Jean-Francois: La Perspective curieuse ou magie artificelle des effets merveilleux. Paris, 1638.
• Niceron, Jean-Francois: Thaumaturgus opticus, seu Admiranda optices per radium directum, catoptrices per radium reflectum. Paris, 1646.
• North, John: The Ambassadors’ Secret. Hamblendon and London, London, 2002.
• Orosz István: Artistic Expression of Mirror, Reflection and Perspective. Symmetry 2000. Portland Press, London, 2002.
• Orosz István: The Mirrors of the Master. Escher Legacy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2003.
• Shickman, Allan: “Turning Pictures” in Shakespeare’s England. University of N. Iowa, Cedar Falls Ia. Art Bulletin LIX/1 Mar. 1977.
• Sakane, Itsuo: A Museum of Fun (The Expanding Perceptual World) The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, 1979 (Part I.) 1984 (Part II.)
• Schott, Gaspar: Magia universalis naturae et artis. Würzburg, 1657.
• The Arcimboldo Effect. (exhibition catalogue - Palazzo Grassi, Velence) Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, Bompiani, Milano, 1987.
• Stephen and Timothy Quay: De Artificiali Perspectiva, or Anamorphosis (1991)(film)

External links

Look up anamorphosis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• 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
• [2]
• 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 Post