These hyper-realistic drawings mess with your mind

Annie Churdar Contributor

By Annie Churdar in New Art on Wednesday 6 March 2013

Indonesian artist Veri Apriyatno has drawn himself into eternity. His hyperirealistic art is extremely detailed and well thought out. He creates illusions similar to those of M.C. Escher except with more personality and humor. At first glance, it’s honestly hard to tell if it’s only drawings or if Apriyatno is actually standing next to his [...]

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Traveling through 1960s Paris in a bubble

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in New Photography on Wednesday 12 December 2012

It’s tough to recall the times when the world didn’t have Photoshop, but it’s probably fair to assume photographers have never stopped creating visual illusions in photography for the longest time. In 1963, a certain Melvin Sokolsky shot in black and white for Harper’s Bazaar as model Simone D’Aillencourt floated in a bubble through Parisian streets and sights. So surreal, so eccentric — what kick-ass images.

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Giant daddy long-leg mural on a Seattle roof

Rebekah Rhoden Contributor

By Rebekah Rhoden in New Art on Wednesday 12 September 2012

Seattle-based artist and science illustrator, Marlin Peterson, was commissioned to paint a mural in his city. Rather than paint a standard wall mural, he chose a roof of a building right underneath the Seattle Space Needle. Using an optical illusion technique called trompe d’oeil, Peterson painted two giant daddy long-legs on the roof of a building. The monstrous bugs look as if they’re taking over the building when viewed from above, and the Space Needle makes a great location for viewing Peterson’s terrifying mural. 

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This optical illusion will actually hold up your books

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in Tech on Saturday 8 September 2012

We are quite the stickler for badass optical illusions. The Bias of Thought book shelf designed by ClarkeHopkinsClarke Architects’ John Leung is a pretty cool product that looks incredibly flat, but then it can perplexingly display a fair number of books and such on it. What does that mean? We’re sold.

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Awesome real-life illusions from mirror installation

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in New Art on Monday 4 June 2012

Sometime last year, designer Arnaud Lapierre stacked mirrored cubes to create a somewhat deconstructed view of life for passersby in Place Vendôme, Paris. Something, we feel, must be said of this: and that something is unintelligible gushing.

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Color Spiral

Gerry Mak Reader Find

By Gerry Mak in New Design on Friday 26 June 2009

Believe it or not, the green spiral and the blue spiral in this image by Akiyoshi Kitaoka are the exact same color — the difference you see is an optical illusion created by the intersecting spirals.

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