By Vurdlak on April 19, 2006, with 122 Comments
This Optical Illusion is mega super extra pro version – ultimate magic trick, I tell you! There was no digital modification done with this image, I can guarantee you that. Yet, it is unbeleivable and not understandable to my humble mind. This public installment was also done by creative artist called “Blue Sky”, and you can find more about this installment on his homepage. Previously I’ve posted his wonderfull mural called “Tunnelvision”, so be sure to check it out! “Levitating Dumpster” debuted at the Columbia Music Festival Association’s fundraising ‘Street Bash’ and no one suspected it was art installment. Attendants believed it was an actual dumpster and were unable to figure out what supported it. Autor and his wife are tight-lipped about the secret behind this magic act. Can you solve this enigma? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts. My mind is blank regarding this one… maybe mirror reflecting dumpster on it’s upper side, while bottom of the mirror is transparent so you can see the house and the fence?
(20 votes)
i have no idea
The only thing I can think of is that the dumpster isn’t an actual dumpster.
Just cleverly constructed and painted to look authentic.
The structure is then filled with helium to allow it to float.
I saw a performance of a ‘flying car’ a few months ago with a helium filled inflatable car (looked extremely real).
IThe shadows don’t look quite right to me, but it is hard to tell there are no forgound objects to compair with. Maybe the shadow is painted and the dumpster is really larger and placed further back in the scene.
Yeah I agree with my man Jason, It has to be a well painted cardboard box filled with helium.
Wouldn’t it just float away, or tumble?
intriguing.. painted probably? since he did the tunnelvision as well
Well, it could be cardboard filled with helium. Then it could just have some invisible thread tethering it so it won’t blow away. If the weight was balanced well enough, it wouldn’t take that much thread to keep it from blowing away.
I’m down with the empty-cardboard line of reasoning, but I see no need to involve helium. If the thing weighs next to nothing, and you are already willing to stipulate that ultra-thin “invisible thread”-style guy wire would hold it in place (to the ground), then you could also easily dispense with the helium, and have invisible-thread suspending it from anchor points above — tethered to the building, streetlights, etc.
That’d be simpler, and with the tether above instead of touching the ground, no one could discover it because it’d be way overhead, out of reach.
The ‘thread’ theory relies on the assumption that the ‘can’ is stationary.
If the helium (or whatever lighter-than-air gas they may have used) is balanced with oxygen just enough to get the can off the ground to keep it floating, but not rise (think: half empty balloon), then there would be no need for tethering. And a single snap of the shutter would ‘freeze’ whatever movement the can was making.
This, of course, is based on nothing but guessing.
Who really knows…
If you look at the bottom picture that is two pictures, the dumpster on the left is what he claims to have mad airborne. However, the dumpster on the left(actually a real dumpster) isn’t the same as the one on the right. If you notice, right above the word “waste” on the right picture it has hindges or latches of some sort, but when its floating those latches are gone. So yes, its probably a piece of cardboard that is being held down by some invisible string.
they threw the dumbster in air and then they took the picture when the dumbeter is in mid air
or the got a crane took tthe dumbster then dropped it then took the picture before it hit the ground
A printed sticker (picture of a dumpster) on a piece of glass.
Am I the only who notices the shadow for the dumpster is behind it as seen in Picture 2, but the shadow of the gate is in front?
the rust looks really bad on it. almost as if it wasn’t real. . .
i dunno, it just doesn’t look like real rust. the cardboard box thing seems kind of logical, considering this. . . then again, who would go through with all that? go out and raise money for like, AIDS research or something :p
maybe its one of those chalk paintings . . . the really good ones . . . o neva mind.
So how do we know these aren’t just photoshopped?
DUH!!
It’s held on invisible string by a helicopter?
Maybe
hehe.
Well, there’s not enough information and/or images of the “incident” to form a firm conclusion.
But, as a part-time private investigator, and a computer graphics artist, here are my thoughts…
The first rule of thought. The laws of Physics state that we CANNOT levitate a dumpster. “DUH”
So, my first glance made me think, “huge dumpster, with board, painted on building in the background.”
Or, the shadows may not line up correctly.
Or, the actual dumpster image is different than the “floating” images.
Or, what about the bags, attached to the side of the dumpster in places where they would not be.
Or, just simple computer graphics touchup.
In any case, I would have to see more images and more detail. Otherwise, I’m not really impressed at all.
i have a problem with ur thereoy, jason. it has trash coming out of it in one. so it does have trash in it..
Re: the shadows of the gate and the shadows of the dumpster. At first I thought the dumpster shadow was behind while the gate shadow was in front, but I think it’s actually an illusion (haha) that the gate shadow is in front. The gate is elvated off the ground slightly, so you can look underneath and see the shadow. But if you were looking at it with the assumption that the gate is resting on the ground, it would look as if the shadow is in front. Still no idea about the dumpster though. The picture on the bottom left, could it perhaps give us some clues about the “magic” behind the illusion? I see wire and paint, the dumpster already hanging off the edge of the building, plenty of trees to hang things from that maybe aren’t shown in the photos?
FYI, the project was funded by the artist. Most of my father’s installation work is self-funded and free to the public. Unfortunately, this one is no longer extant, due to severe hurricane damage at the SC State Museum.
You guys have come up with some.. interesting.. theories. :)
everyone has good thoeries but i think jason’s idea is the best
I think I have finally found out what makes the dumpster float. He must have doon a bunch of hard work because the only way to make it appear as if it is floating is to copy it, pixel by pixel. The only problem is I don’t know if anyone would ever do it because it would take a very long time.
omg how did they do dat?? wowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love this one. i believe in magic now!!!!!!im lik sooooooooooooop happie!
I think the dumpster is attached to a mural with a very realistic painting on it.
When you look at it it seems to be floating in the air; but is really attached to a wall.
Am I the only one who thought that the bags in the dumpster could have been filled with helium( notice how they bulge?) and the dumpster could have been made of thin metal and paint( and possibly cardboard)?
dont know dont care just cool to look at.
this is just a painting
It appears that the first picture is a mirror image of the dumpster, the mirror is cut out to look like the dumpster, yet the dumpster is being held up by a prob you cant see by looking at the cut out, almost like felice varini’s 3d rooms
On the artist’s website, it says that it’s not a real dumpster. It was made to look real. So it’s apparently lighter than any other dumpster. But how in the heck did they make it look like it was being levitated? It’s amazing and mind-boggling to look at, by the way.
Hmmm…sometimes we may end up overcomplicating things. Looking at the bottom left pic, I think it was resting on a wall or some support. And the dumpster was then pushed off in a sliding fashion like a projectile.
And before it hit the ground, the picture was taken. I first thought my explanation was totally wrong, because this illusion existed in real time in some museum or something, but then I found out that it was just a pic. So its pretty much like a picture taken at the Olympics of a long jumper or pole vaulter. It makes sense in motion, but a still pic makes it difficult to guess…
In short…try photographing a coin (or any object) dropping in mid-air…the picture may seem like, the object “was” levitating.
Anyone notice that on the dumpster on the bottom right has 5 sides. I believe that this could be a well designed drawing. Plus, “Waste ‘R’ US,” is not a real company.
Think about it… has any one ever seen a dumpster with the nme waste ‘R’ us on it? really? bcz if u have id luv to know
WEIRD!
Have any of you seen the thing where there is a bowl shaped object with a dome top and hole in the center of the top and the entire thing is filled with some configuration of mirrors that when you put a object in side of it, like say a die, and it creates a 3d hologram of the object in the hole? Perhaps this is just a giant one of these with a dumpster inside.
I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT REALLY SWEET
I HAVE BNO IDEA BUT REALLY SWEEEEET
It appears the red paint blah isn’t consistent therefore must be another dumpster.
it is quite obvious- its a dumpster made of light plastic attached to the house with a painted shadow
Look
on the “levitating” picture, it appears there is a trashbg sticking out of the side. It could be a box made out of cardboard, filled with trash bags filled with helium. Then, guessing on this one, you could use an extremely light gauge fishing line and tie it to the bottom. If, you look, the box is tilted, implieing that both the trash bags coming out throw it off balance, and that it is tied somewhere
i think it’s chuck norris
:)
no IT IS
anyone thinking it is cardboard with helium is most likely boarder-line retarded… worst explination i could have possibly seen. You should probably just not post anymore
on the bottom left picture there seems to be something that looks like a paint brush covered in red paint and a paint can (probably used to paint the red splotch on) plus the “dumpster” is sitting on some wierd conraption, a real dumpster would probably sit on the ground in a parking lot where it is easily accesble. This means that the dumpster in the bottom left is made by the artist (probably cardboard filled with helium) and the same one that is made to float. His website says it was a public installment meant to fool people into thinking there is a floating dumpster so it is obviously not jsut photoshopped or a painting.
No such thing as “Waste R Us.”
Definitely Chuck’s work!
It’s been stated that this was a fake dumpster. It was also publicly shown. It could have been made extremely light, and hung from somewhere on thin threads. It was high in the air, so investigation of it would be hard, even if someone was there in person.
According to Blue Sky’s website, it is a sculpture. That eliminates the sticker theory.
The dumpster could be a real dumpster and supported by something behind it and everything else behind it is an extremely well painted picture
Its obvious.. the dumpster is made of something really light and then painted to look like the real dumpster (the one on the ground)
The bags are bulged like there is air in them, not trash. This is to add to the effect by seeing trashbags coming from it but its also showing it must have helium in it.
Cool illusion; but that is butt-ugly!
whoever said that the dumpster had a fake shadow is wrong because this peice of work was displayed in public, no? You can’t really use fake shadows in reality because although they look good in pics, they cant stand up to a close examination.
“IThe shadows don’t look quite right to me, but it is hard to tell there are no forgound objects to compair with. Maybe the shadow is painted and the dumpster is really larger and placed further back in the scene.”
I dissagree if you look at it the dumpsters are over the SKY not looking like it’s even in front of ground, If you want to figure something out you might want to take more time observing it
Really Cool
it could have been dropped from high up then someone took a picture with a good camera.
smarty pants spongebob
i like what that guy said dropped from way up high way to go numbnuts
the bags cant be filled with helium or air, because the bags sag. if the bags were filled with helium or air the bags would be floating up. the only thing i can think of is that the dumpster was dropped and caught with a high speed camera
INCREDIBLE!!!
As far as I can see, NO ONE HAS SUGGESTED PHOTOSHOP YET!! (or at least not specifically)
YOU’VE GOT TO ADMIT, IT’S A MIRACLE!!!
Usually all you have to do is open up ANY illusion on this site and INSTANTLY about a million people start screaming “PHOTOSHOP!!!”, even when that is wrong and stupid, because the description CLEARLY rules out photoshop. (as in this case)
IM JUST SO SHOCKED!!!
Oh, and while I’m here, may I point out that the shadow is NOT fake, yet not as it seems?
Note: in the top pic the shadow looks as if it is UNDER the dumpster.
However, by looking at the rest of the shadows, you can see that the shadow should really be IN FRONT OF the dumpster.
But the next picture shows that the shadow is BEHIND the dumpster!
That suggests that there is some kind of trickery going on, right?
it could have been a different time of day
yes jack im sure they waited a couple of hours just to take another pic from another angle just to mess with you. nice job
to: amazing discovery: maybe the two pix were taken at different times in the day.
p.s.! why would there be garbeage coming out from the SIDE of the dumpster. shouldn’t it be the top?!
you too Me HaHaHa !!! nice job
Not gas. Gas would make it bulge. Second, The two pictures of it in the air have the exact same angle, tilt AND shadow. If this thing was floating, the photographer would not have been able to get around fast enough for the angle and shadow to have not changed when the second photo was taken.
Must be very light and suspended by very thin thread or fishing line. The photo is not exactly high resolution, so the thread/line would easily vanish.
maybe there is a tiny dumpster stuck to the camera lens
Mitch, I salute you.
That is awesome. I’m still giggling. Thank you Mitch for you wonderful wit. I also give you a salut
this is the best solution anyone has come up with yet
Possibly theres a painted fork-lift or something like that holding it up???
Oh my gosh! You guys are retarded. Before assuming your ridiculous theories maybe you should look at Bly Sky’s website! This was a real thing, the illusion is not in the photograph, the photo is just the only way it could be put on a website. Therefore, photoshop, drawing, painting, billboards, and whatever nonsense is out of the question! Goodness gracious. If you want to find the answer maybe you should know what you’re talking about first! This was a real exhibit and people saw it and walked around it. I don’t know the answer, but most of you a 100% wrong.
Yes, but can you explain what it IS?
My goodness. You could have stated your opinion to everyone with out calling them ridiculous or retarded. You don’t have the answer either, so no need to be rude an pompous. Lemme rephrase for you. People will not listen to you if you insult them. Your point would have been made if you had been nice. Let me rewrite it for you.
Oh my gosh! You guys should read Blue Sky’s website first. This was a real thing, the illusion is not in the photograph. The photo is just the only way it could be put on a website. Therefore, photoshop, drawing, painting, billboards, and whatever else are not good theories. This was a real exhibit and people saw it and walked around it. I don’t know the answer, but most of you a 100% wrong.
Point still made. Insults deleted. There’s no reason to be a jerk.
jodessaray way to go puntap
Does anyone else think that the front of the dumpster is concave a little? Just a the thereoy. So im going with floating dumpster
yes buddy the dumpster does appear to be floating now we r just trying to figure out how it seems that way
He drew around the dumpster that was probably against a wall. The background is the drawing. The dumpster is real.
this is really cool no matter how its done. wish i could have seen it.
Thats awesome. Tried Googling how it was possible, and couldn’t find any realistic claims, so im assuming its being held up by some sort of crane or building.
We were told he consulted the famous American landscape photographer Jeff Mitchum for 3 D composition.They said Mitchum helped with the directional light and angles.
The artist tells us that it was manufactured to ‘look like’ a real dumpster. Therefore it wasn’t a real dumpster. We have another clue in that it was ‘destroyed by the tail end of a hurricane’. Now a real dumpster would hardly be affected by wind — but a dumpster-shaped balloon could be torn to shreds. My money is on a dumpster-shaped balloon.
some glass and magicians thread can be almost invisible does that give eny thoughts? pluss the dumpster is close to a wall and like JONJ sayed the dumpster might be fake so it could be light enuf to hang by magicians thred!!!!
p.s. can u check out my web site?
e-lacasse.synthasite.com or eal.com
time wasting. do you know anyone who can do telekinesis? thought not.
shut up ghetorayden i can “do” telekinesis, if you havent figured it out yet, either its mirrors and paint or theres a little dumpster stuck to the cam…but that wouldnt explain the shadow….it cant be telekinesis cuz i wasnt there…im floating right now belive it or not
The dumpster is artwork, made of a very light weight material. It’s filled with helium filled bags.
I think their is a fake shadow of some kind (mayby painted on the ground? And then they held a miniatyre of a container infront of the cammera while shooting. But proberly a pretty bad guess :P
The Shadow is not where it should be, but because we can see the dumpster from multiple angles, that rules out a huge billboard…hm
The lighting of the bags on the first picture doesn’t seem to line up with any of the lighting for anything else in that picture
My Guess: outer shell of dumpster is just well crafted cardboard, spray painted to look like metal. Then filled inside with a bunch of helium. Makes sense because that doesn’t seem like the normal size and color of a regular dumpster.
Have you seen those pictures of the U.S army fooling the Germans with inflatable tanks, looked very realistic.
It is a “work of art”. Seems pretty obvious to me that it is a ballon!
i guess this is a balloon shaped of a dumpster
wat ever it is…..its cool!!!!!!
awesome! By the way we all know tis not a real dumpster because a) the bags are comming out the side and b) look at the logo ( waste (backwards r) us”
this is amazing. i’m going to look it up on google. i think that it is a balloon.