As people attempt to recognize and write these words, some of the thinking patterns that have been ingrained in them since they learned to read are challenged. It is the artists’ belief that people must have their routine thinking attacked in this way. While undergoing this process of estrangement and re-familiarization with one’s written language, the audience is reminded that the sensation of distance between other systems of language and one’s own is largely self-induced. That being said, if you look closely you’ll find the below characters not so hard to read…

A video titled ”Elementary Square-Word Calligraphy Instruction,” was played on a monitor during the exhibition, capturing the audience’s attention and inviting them to participate in the class. Once they were seated at the desks, the audience was instructed to take up their brushes and the lesson in New English Calligraphy begins.

During my holidays in Spain in 2008 I found a nice optical illusion on one of the Barcelona’s houses. The head is concave, but with this lighting it looks like it is convex. Greetings from Calgary – Jacenty

Anyhow, recently I’ve noticed hysteria among chicks over this vampire saga called Twilight. My girlfriend read them books couple of times, and even forced me to watch actual movie with her. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was bored at best. Don’t know, I simply see it as ordinary vampire move redefined to suit women, but then again – I could be wrong.

Still, if there are any fans of the movie out there, I’ve received these two optical illusions of main actor – Robert Pattinson, so hope you enjoy them!

First one on the right is simple afterimage (if you don’t know how afterimages work, read this first). It works best if you switch your view to blank white screen, after burning the negative image in your retina. Perpetual blinking helps additionally. This one worked great for me! Few more afterimage illusions can be found here.

The second illusion of Robert Pettinson (on your left), is a simple photograph caught in the right moment. When I first saw it, I got impression this dude is wearing some kind of tennis hat and has really alien-ish head anatomy. When you take a closer look, you’ll quickly realize there is actually another person standing behind him.

There, I believe these two illusions weren’t the best ones available, but still we can’t have Greatest Illusions each day. Can we? Btw. check this promotion of Fight Club, done for the 10th anniversary. It will show you the power of Facebook Connect!

This is how one would imagine mother nature would express her sentiments about our inability to reduce global warming. It seemed an obvious place for her to appear, on a retreating ice shelf, crying.”

Benjamin got a nice surprise when he opened his iGoogle homepage.

Good day mate, I’ve had your iGoogle gadget on my home page for a couple of years now, but never have I gotten such a nice surprise when I opened the internet. Nothing heaps fancy, but still a nice coincidence I think, and I figured you’d appreciate it. Keep up the good work. – Ben

The picture below has to be one of the most famous photographs ever taken. On July 20th, 1969, Buzz Aldrin was the second astronaut to walk on the Moon. Neil Armstrong was the first. Aldrin had hoped to step out of the Lunar Landing Module ahead of Armstrong, but NASA ruled that Armstrong was best placed in the capsule for that momentous move. However, it’s interesting to know that Aldrin has managed to upstage Armstrong in history, by recording his very own “first” footprint. Unfortunately, Neil forgot to bring photo of his first step back home.

But have you ever noticed how weird this footprint actually looks? It appears to be negative of the original photo, because it seems to stand proud of the moon dust. I suppose most people think (as I did) that its strange appearance had something to do with the fact it was taken on the Moon, where no atmosphere exists. Well, that’s half true… Back here on Earth, Sun never shines as brightly, especially from such an angle. In my opinion, the lighting is responsible for the way the picture looks.

The illusion has to do with the way our eyes perceive things. Our brain expects light to come from above, and that’s why we see this photo convex (embossed). For proof, view the same exact photo turned upside down.

The footprint appears to be indented in the Moon dust, now. Same as it would be back here on Earth. This implies that the atmosphere has nothing to do with it this time. It is merely the way light falls, and the way our eyes perceive the resulting image. But that’s not all folks! No matter which version of the photo you are observing, if you contort yourself and try to look at it upside down, it won’t switch – Your brain simply won’t permit it. Try it yourselves!

Justine was a long time follower of this blog and was recently invited to help us bring more stuff to our society. Moillusions.com and I proudly welcome Justine, and wish her success in her future writing. Hopefully we’ll manage to develop long-lasting relationship with Justine, resulting in many new illusions for You, our loyal visitors. – Vurdlak

Pumpkin Illusion by Tony Bailey

Just in time for Halloween, Tony Bailey sent me his very own made Pumpkin Illusion. It’s always motivating to hear how our little website has inspired someone into creative thinking, and assembling their own optical illusions. My guess is that Tony used the idea from Three Figurines video, but this doesn’t need to be the case.

On “All Hallows’ Eve”, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the “head” of the vegetable to frighten off harmful spirits. Although this particular holly day is most popular across United States (I presume so), it’s starting to become more popular in Europe each year. In Croatia we always had trick-or treating, but lately many night clubs engage in “Halloween” specials on 31st October.

Although I’m a great fan of USA, I dislike this artificial Americanization on other societies. Check the video below, and experience what other people in Tony’s neighborhood see when they walk by his house. Do you see the pumpkin embedded or embossed?

Can you see the head of a hearding dog Collie in this photo above?

I am more than certain how those of you that came to this article via your optical illusion widgets saw the illusion immediately! Rest of us (Festivus, the illusion for the rest of us!) will need an explanation before we see it. It all began when Joe Faircloth sent me a photo, taken in front of the local bridal-wear shop in Newtown Powys, UK. Joe asked me a simple question, whether I can see a Colli in his simple shot?

What do you see?

In the beginning I almost ditched the submission, thinking there is nothing interesting about it (you have to remember we get dozen of submissions daily – not all of them qualify), but then a simple coincidence made me see it. As most of you know, Gmail has a built-in function, which previews  the thumbnail of the attached pictures and files. While I couldn’t see anything in the full-size photo Joe sent me, I saw the dog’s head perfectly when the shrinked version appeared! To picture you what happened, I made a similar thumb and added it to the right. Remember, original picture I received was 5 times bigger than the version I posted above… Can you see it now? If you still have problems, try shrinking the image – or check how it looks inside your preferred widget.