M.C. ESCHER

(1898-1972)

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in 1898, in Leewoardes, Netherlands. He was well known for his ability to change, time, space,and perspective. He turned his attention to the inner world of thought and perception. Esher avoided what the outer world looked like. He was drawn to mathematics and mathematical geometric shapes. He lived in a world all of his own, not related to the real world and played with the mind of the viewer.

In virtual reality shape, space, and time can be bent. Viewers became immersed and interactive. The worlds that M.C. Escher constructed did not exist in real life. Convoluted stairways, mobius strips, geometry, and space (where people and creatures blend back and forth) are all the devices of Escher's art.

As a virtual viewer in Escher's art you become either a fish, or a bird, or a devil or an angel. Objects transform from a lizard on paper to a three dimensional figure standing on the paper. He was well known for a form of geometric art called tessellations. Many of his prints and etchings were planned very systematically and geometrically. Escher used rotation, reflection, and translation to create his works. His work is used quite often in high school geometry classes. Geometry is also one of the building blocks used to create virtual worlds.

Esher's work has the power to pull the viewer out of himself into the work of act. Suddenly you are in a world of timelessness. As to his art Escher was quoted as saying "It is for example, a pleasure to deliberately mix together objects of two and of three dimensions, surface and spatial relationships, and to make fun of gravity."

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For a closer look at Escher's art......

Three dimensionsal models based on works of M.C. Escher