Francis Tabary’s World of Impossible

Francis Tabary is a magic performer from France. True to his calling, he decided to take one step further in this direction, and create objects that could apparently not exist in three dimensions! The first challenge he tackled was Penrose’s famous triangle (which had actually been created by Reutersvärd in 1934). His researches and efforts eventually resulted in the making of some three-dimensional “impossible” objects you see today. Francis Tabary has made fifteen or so such objects, as well as many “ambigrams” designed as sculptures. One of the most successful ones in my opinion, is the Love-Amor ambigram we blogged about in the past. Today, Tabary dedicates himself entirely to the creation of magic objects, thus giving a unique grandeur and personality to the otherwise ephemeral art of illusionism. Hah! And you thought I had problem spelling harder words! (In truth, I’ve copy-pasted much of Tabary’s biography). Enjoy!

Btw, if you would like to write some in-depth featured articles on following topics: “Optical Illusions in Hollywood Movies”, “Optical Illusions in Education”, “Top 10 Optical Illusions” (from our archives), or some other topic related with Moillusions community, optical illusions used in education, psychological illusions, reflections on recent discussions within our community, be sure to send me an email. You can also think of your own topic, and if we like it, we can give you some space to be featured on our main page! Be sure to use higher-level writing and mind your grammar ;) hehe.



65 Replies to “Francis Tabary’s World of Impossible”

  1. Hi im a BIG fan of the site love the illusion btw. PLZ show more illusions lyke this! :-)

  2. Wow, that’s cool, I’ve always thought that they were totally impossible, very creative of him to do it. Thanks for this great website!

  3. I know how he does that! The “third” bar in the middle is actually carved into the other two bars.

  4. That’s cool. Note the triangle on the side table. My fav in this pic is the mirror. It looks like an illusion, too. Is it convex or concave?

  5. Very impressive. I love the way that the illusions trick your mind and I try to work out how they’re done.
    Great site been checkin’ in every now and then for a while now first time I have left a comment.
    Keep up the fantastic work.

  6. That’s really cool.
    Honestly, I didn’t realize what I was seeing at first, but once I saw, it’s amazing.
    =D

  7. I dont know how he does that. Either he paints it in the wall or use special lighting and positions of the object to create the effect

  8. It was bugging me for ages how this impossible object was achieved and finally it came to me when I saw the difference in the shading on the centre piece. Its inverted.

  9. #9 poster has the closest answer. The middle block is an inverted box. Probably made out of thin wood laminate. You are looking at the inside of a box but you think it is the outside. Notice how it is lit from below and is bright. Also the slot is bigger.

  10. PUT TOGETHER NICELY HOWEVER EVERYONE SINGLE ILLUSION IN THESE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ESCHERS…..

    way to steal somebodys credit

  11. I’ve been visiting this site for a while but have never posted before…but these pictures are AMAZING! The first picture is FILLEd with optical illusions! Can’t figure out how he does it :0

  12. I think it’s just computer graphics, how do you explain that in the first pic the left bar, at the bottom, is shorter than the right one and in the second picture this is the opposite? I’d like better description, if I’m wrong

  13. HaHa Excellent. My brother suggested that the sticks are actually 2 sticks with another one painted onto the inside.

  14. There is another optical illusion here. If you scroll down, really fast, it appears if the objects are moving!

  15. Your mind obviously thinks that this is impossible because the 3rd stick (if it were there) would blen in with the sides of the 2 poles.

  16. It makes sense now! It actually took looking at the metal one for me to get it. It’s concave, not convex, and I KNOW how the third one that disappears works- I can see it, and I could draw it, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to explain it. But I GET IT!

  17. did anyone notice his mirror box on the top right that is also an illusion? it looks like the inside and outside of a box….if this doesnt really count then dont start being rude just tell me…

  18. i see it after the silver one too. they are connected and the one in the middle is just concaved…like a design marked into the two connected sticks…yeah that probably made no sense to you guys but i see it.

  19. wow really people its not that hard of an illusion to crack because if you squint your eyes and look at it you can see the entire thing all it is is a tall one a medium sized one and a small one smacked in between the two so just squint your eyes and youll see the full small one

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