Challenging Reality
Challenging RealityM.C. Escher: Challenging Reality
M.C. Escher was a master of perspective. He challenged reality, and his critics' minds. His artwork was considered to be highly mathematical, even though Escher never had any formal training in the math or sciences. Yet artists around the still world regard his work as great. Escher was able to manipulate geometry to create illusions that were often used to tell a story. In Day and Night and Ascending and Descending, Escher illustrated daily events and their meaning by using his artistic and mathematical techniques.
In Day and Night, one of Escher's most acclaimed pieces, the idea of transformation from basic geometric shapes was used to depict a linking together of two separate events. In the center of the woodcut he began his design with a simple square which transformed into the farmland and geese. From these geese a city, in both the day and the night, emerged. The city in the day was a mirror image of the city at night that suggested the two events were inseparable. Day and Night was particularly special because Escher eliminated all negative space. Every inch of the paper was used to illustrate an event, which aided in the idea of day and night being one.
Ascending and Descending is another well-known piece by Escher. This architectural drawing illustrated Escher's ability to create...
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