Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Patrick Hughes invented reverspectives (RP): piece-wise planar surfaces of volumetric solids jutting out from the wall with their small parts nearer to the viewer than their large bases. Hughes uses linear perspective to paint realistic scenes - on these surfaces - that compete against the physical geometry. Namely, the painted scenes suggest that physically nearer parts are further than physically distant parts. RPs cause a vivid illusory motion in two dual conditions: (a) RPs appear to move for viewers who move in front of them. (b) When rotated, RPs appear to rotate in the opposite direction than the physical direction for stationary viewers. Because the raw surfaces contain RP geometry, they induce the illusion even when unpainted. VARIATIONS: Forced perspectives (FP): The small parts are further than large parts and the scene is now painted to be congruent with the physical geometry. FPs recede into the wall, and they appear stationary for moving viewers. Finally, conventional planar perspectives (PP) are painted on a flat canvas and they appear to turn for moving viewers under certain conditions, but less vividly than reverspectives. NOVEL PERSPECTIVE TECHNIQUE: Patrick Hughes has designed art works ["Forced into Reverse Perspective" (2008), "Day-dreaming" (2008)] that contain all three types of perspective (RP, FP and PP), painted on a single piece-wise planar surface, itself forming a geometric RP. He paints the surface to break it into individuated objects. A subset of these objects are painted in RP, hence they appear to move; others are painted in PP producing less vivid motion; still a third category of objects are painted in FP and appear stationary. Overall, viewers perceive individual objects that defy the surface geometry and move in a wide variety of patterns, as confirmed by experiments, even though the unpainted surface would move in only one direction.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2013