New Humanist magazine have run a Paranormality article by my good self on the psychology of ghosts, goblins and god here.
I am a big fan of Lego and so was delighted to come across these wonderful illusions…..
1) Impossible bench
2)Man in impossible arch
3) Amazing recreation of Escher print….
4)Another great Escher-inspired idea….
5) The lines are all straight!
So, which is your favourite?
UPDATE: 3 and 4 are by Andrew Lipson – more about his work here.
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March 3, 2011 at 5:39 am |
Wow! These are ALL fantastic – can’t pick a favourite here…
March 3, 2011 at 5:55 am |
5 is favourite, as it takes effort not to see what seems obvious…. But 4 is the one I would like to have built…
March 3, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Same here.
March 3, 2011 at 5:57 am |
# 5. But they’re all amazingly cool!
March 3, 2011 at 6:12 am |
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Lego illusion, they are all fantastic. I will certainly be looking up more.
March 3, 2011 at 6:19 am |
I agree with what theboywil said. However I’m still flummoxed as to how they did number 1. Will have to think on it some more.
March 4, 2011 at 4:40 am
The image was enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software.
March 3, 2011 at 6:20 am |
Going to have to get my son’s lego out to see if I can reproduce any of these!
Incredible!
March 3, 2011 at 6:30 am |
At first, I was leaning towards 5 as well, for its simplicity, but it has two flaws: focus, and a perspective tilt. While perspective preserves straight lines, but not necessarily parallel ones, that’s a drawback for the intent here. So, 4 it is for me – iconic, best execution. The original is titled Relativity.
1 – looks too fishy – obvious image smoothing in the red stripe.
2 – is somewhat easy to spot (lintel, to our right).
3 – points for effort, but focus is bad, and Escher’s original Balcony has smooth transitions around the bulge.
4 – nice build.
5 – out of focus, perspective tilt.
March 3, 2011 at 9:38 am
Way to go, Mr Perfectionist!
Care to share some of your brilliant creations?
March 3, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Does a movie critic have to make movies to be effective? Do you refrain from criticism after watching a movie or beholding a piece of art because you do not create one yourself? Does the restaurant critic also need to be a chef to have the right to ply his or her trade?
Richard asked for a favourite, and I gave a itemized, skeptical, and yes, critical opinion. We are above the grade where everyone’s a winner, are we not?
Sure, nice ideas and inspirations are behind all the efforts. Yet I stand by that only one is truly well executed.
March 3, 2011 at 7:10 am |
They’re all cool. I’d like to know who made them though – posting images on your blog without attribution seems a bit rude (unless you’ve been playing with lego yourself Richard?)
March 3, 2011 at 7:16 am
In case it helps – the two Escher ones are by Andrew Lipson and Daniel Shiu. http://www.andrewlipson.com/lego.htm (he has a few others too).
March 3, 2011 at 7:24 am
Agree with Alan.
Richard makes it clear that these are not his own works, but on the web, at least links are in order, if not full attributions.
March 3, 2011 at 7:29 am |
Number 3 is my fave – can´t figure that one out. But all of them are wonderful.
March 3, 2011 at 7:58 am |
Which is your favorite?
March 3, 2011 at 8:14 am |
[...] see more at Ricahrd Wise personal site [...]
March 3, 2011 at 8:34 am |
Thats great
March 3, 2011 at 8:59 am |
#5 is my favorite, because without a ruler, I can’t make myself see straight lines.
I really like the sleight of hand in #1, however – the guy on the right is not just there to illustrate the illusion, but also to conceal the edge of the taller lego piece!
March 3, 2011 at 9:33 am |
Definitely five… because there are no optical tricks or special perspective shots involved.
March 3, 2011 at 9:42 am |
Number 5 is amazing, even with a ruler on the screen, you can’t make the next line up look straight.
Also, it works on a different scale too – zoom your browser view out (or sit across the room!), and further diagonal lines seem to appear.
March 3, 2011 at 9:44 am |
Speaking of famous illusions coming to life, II just came across ClarkeHopkinsClarke “Bias of thought” which is a seemingly impossible bookshelf inspired from a famous 2D illusion. You can check it out on their blog : http://melbournearchitects.blogspot.com/2011/03/bias-of-thoughts-bookshelf-design.html
March 3, 2011 at 9:49 am |
Wow #5 always drives me crazy! Best one.
March 3, 2011 at 10:19 am |
I love number two, especially his face. Definitely more Lego posts, please!
March 3, 2011 at 10:54 am |
Like them all!
#5: I can’t tell my mind that this really are straight lines!
March 3, 2011 at 11:04 am |
Has to be the last ,black n white Hypno style
very cleverɹǝʌǝlɔ ʎɹǝʌ very clever ɹǝʌǝlɔ ʎɹǝʌ
March 3, 2011 at 1:57 pm |
The first one is awesome for its simplicity.
March 3, 2011 at 2:20 pm |
No facebok link ?
March 3, 2011 at 3:45 pm |
For fans of #5 who are also web geeks, I did a version using only square HTML div elements almost exactly a year ago:
http://www.impossiblystupid.com/node/61
March 3, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Now that’s nice! I thought I try a minimal version in postscipt, but your HTML/CSS is much easier to view.
March 4, 2011 at 12:08 am |
[...] 5 of the best ever Lego illusions…. New Humanist magazine have run a Paranormality article by my good self on the psychology of ghosts, goblins and god [...] [...]
March 4, 2011 at 1:01 am |
No. 5, as I was comparing the straight lines to a notepad window thinking, ‘they’re not straight’, before realising the picture isn’t parallel to begin with.
March 4, 2011 at 4:28 am |
Love no 5 ! its cool.
March 4, 2011 at 12:03 pm |
I think they’re all really good and would like to know when lego are releasing them as kits- Number 4 would keep my son quiet for hours!!!
March 5, 2011 at 4:28 am |
Does anyone else think that #2 looks like Garrison Keillor?
March 5, 2011 at 8:22 am |
These writings to me are really hard to be able to decipher. This is really fun you might say because one has figure out what is being reported. I really have to appear into this.
March 6, 2011 at 7:03 pm |
[...] 5 der besten mit Lego gebauten optischen Täuschungen [...]
March 9, 2011 at 1:00 pm |
The fifth image – even though I have verified that the lines are straight, I still cannot see it that way. (squinting reveals a very definitive chevron design)
March 16, 2011 at 7:38 pm |
4′s definitely my favourite what with me being a big fan of the original M. C. Escher ‘Relativity’ lith and Lego.