OP ART
Op Art Demos
BIG IDEA: Create a style of abstract art that produces optical illusions with lines, shape and form.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
What is Op art ? (Optical Illusion Art)
Op Art exists to fool the eye. Op compositions create a sort of visual tension, in the viewer's mind, that gives works the illusion of movement through the basis of mathematics. Usually simple forms are repeated and along with colors often create vibrating effects or what is called a Moire’ pattern. Op artists also use depth perception or visual perception to confuse the viewer as to the foreground and background. The movement began in the 1960’s although experiments with optical illusion art began slightly earlier and were not purely abstract. The Op Art artists like to play tricks with the eye and the early artists work was truly innovative and many artists followed who began creating various forms of this style. Some artists mixed colors to show light and shadow and to give the Illusion of three dimensional space; others used repeated patterns; still others used geometric forms repeated again and again in different sizes separately and together. This style remains popular with students, teachers, and all art lovers because it is the viewer’s “eye” that interprets the work.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
- How might optical illusion art be applied to the concepts of technology, engineering and aerospace?
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
- Because of its geometrically-based nature, Op Art is, almost without exception, non-representational.
- The elements employed (color, line and shape) are carefully chosen to achieve maximum effect.
- The critical techniques used in Op Art are perspective and careful juxtaposition of color (whether chromatic [identifiable hues] or achromatic [black, white or gray]).
- In Op Art, as in perhaps no other artistic school, positive and negative spaces in a composition are of equal importance. Op Art could not be created without both.
- Optical Illusions build excitement, because it is fun to see the way the different illusions can trick the eye.
What is Op art ? (Optical Illusion Art)
Op Art exists to fool the eye. Op compositions create a sort of visual tension, in the viewer's mind, that gives works the illusion of movement through the basis of mathematics. Usually simple forms are repeated and along with colors often create vibrating effects or what is called a Moire’ pattern. Op artists also use depth perception or visual perception to confuse the viewer as to the foreground and background. The movement began in the 1960’s although experiments with optical illusion art began slightly earlier and were not purely abstract. The Op Art artists like to play tricks with the eye and the early artists work was truly innovative and many artists followed who began creating various forms of this style. Some artists mixed colors to show light and shadow and to give the Illusion of three dimensional space; others used repeated patterns; still others used geometric forms repeated again and again in different sizes separately and together. This style remains popular with students, teachers, and all art lovers because it is the viewer’s “eye” that interprets the work.
Victor Vasarely: (1906 - 1997) Led the group of abstract painters who began to develop Op Art and for twenty years during his life, he developed his own style using geometric forms and limited colors.
Victor Vasarely: (1906 - 1997) Led the group of abstract painters who began to develop Op Art and for twenty years during his life, he developed his own style using geometric forms and limited colors.
M.C. Escher: (1898 - 1972) Although not a traditional Op artist, Escher created works with amazing perspectives and use of tessellations that certainly helped point the way for others.
Bridget Riley: (1931 - ) Known for her tessellation art, Riley’s work with geometric forms seemingly moves into infinity in every direction. She delighted in the joy of using the eye to interpret the work.
Bridget Riley: (1931 - ) Known for her tessellation art, Riley’s work with geometric forms seemingly moves into infinity in every direction. She delighted in the joy of using the eye to interpret the work.
Justine Ashbee: is an American artist creating large scale free-form sharpie drawings. These drawings are executed purely by hand, using paint pens. Each form grow organically, in an intuitive flow, while maintaining delicate, elegant precision. Much like zen calligraphy, Justine Ashbee’s amorphous lines are improvisational, and intuitively composed, where the physicality and the mark making become one.
MAGNET THEME CONNECTIONS: The science behind optical illusions:
An optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed by the brain to give a perception that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source. There are three main types of illusion - literal optical illusions that create images that are different from the objects that make them, physiological illusions that are the effects on the eyes and brain of excessive stimulation of a specific type - brightness, tilt, color, movement, and cognitive illusions where the eye and brain make unconscious inferences.
MAGNET THEME CONNECTIONS: The science behind optical illusions:
An optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed by the brain to give a perception that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source. There are three main types of illusion - literal optical illusions that create images that are different from the objects that make them, physiological illusions that are the effects on the eyes and brain of excessive stimulation of a specific type - brightness, tilt, color, movement, and cognitive illusions where the eye and brain make unconscious inferences.