Perspective Resources: The Brothers Quay and Anamorphosis

'Dormitorium: An Exhibition of Sets of Films by the Quay Brothers' is currently running at Liverpool's Victoria Gallery and Museum, from 25. March to 28. May 2011 (free admission).

Further details are available here.

In 1991, the Brothers Quay explored perspective drawing and the issues associated with perspectival distortion in a short film entitled 'Anamorphosis, or De Artificiali Perspectiva'. This beautifully filmed animation offers a excellent introduction to the secrets of anamorphosis. The film was made in collaboration with art historians, Sir Ernst Gombrich and Roger Cardinal.

"Anamorphosis is a minor chapter in the vast and complex history of how painters have constructed images of the world. The film seeks to illuminate an artistic technique which plays mischievously yet revealingly with the relationship between the eye and what it sees."

The full film can be viewed on YouTube in 2 parts (total 13 mins)

Part 1

Part 2

Additional links:

BBC images of Liverpool exhibition

Brothers Quay at Wikipedia

Glossary

accelerated perspective - the use of exaggerated perspective effects in architecture to give an enhanced sense of spatial depth.

aerial perspective - the impression of depth created by the reduction in contrast of objects in the distance, which is caused by atmospheric haze.

anamorphosis - an image that has been distorted, so that it can only be seen correctly when viewed from a specific point.

artificial perspective - a term for perspective drawings that are based on Albertian principles (in contrast to 'synthetic perspective').

centre line - the line leading from the viewpoint to the point on the picture plane that is directly in front of the viewer's eye.

cone of vision - the cone of visual rays that converge at the eye or 'viewing position'.

Construzione Legittima - the term used by Alberti to describe his method of perspective construction.

crate - a notional orthogonal box placed around a complex object to make it easier to draw.

curved picture plane - a cylindrical or spherical picture plane, used in an attempt to more accurately depict an image as it would appear to the eye, or to emulate a fish-eye camera lens.

cylinder anamorphosis - an image that has been distorted, so that it can only be seen correctly when viewed reflected in a cylindrical mirror.

diagonal perspective - a perspective view that looks diagonally towards the principal surfaces of an object.

diagonal vanishing point (DVP) - the point on the horizon towards which any diagonal lines in the object will converge.

distance point - another term for a diagonal vanishing point.

distortion - a term used to describe the 'unnatural' appearance of objects when drawn in perspective, particularly when wide angles of view are used.

eye point - the point on the picture plane that is directly in front of the viewer's eye. The eye point is always on the horizon.

horizon - the notional horizontal line in the far distance, dividing the earth from the sky.

horizon line - in a perspective drawing, this is a horizontal line at eye level. Vanishing points for all horizontal edges will be on the horizon line.

linear perspective - an alternative term for 'artificial perspective'.

natural perspective - an alternative term for 'synthetic perspective'.

non-parallel perspective - an alternative term for 'diagonal perspective'.

object centred - a drawing system based on representing an object without reference to a specific experiential viewpoint. Plans, sections, elevations and axonometrics are all form of object centred drawings.

one-point perspective - a common term for 'parallel perspective', (although the drawing may in fact include more than one vanishing points).

parallel perspective - a perspective view that is aligned in parallel with the principal surfaces of an object.

perspective 'window' - an alternative term for the 'picture plane'.

picture plane - the notional intersection of the visual cone on which the position of the visual rays are plotted.

retinal image - a notional description of how a view may appear on the retina of the eye.

sciagraphical perspective - the projection of shadows in perspective.

spectator point - see 'viewing position'.

synthetic perspective - drawings based on a curved picture plane.

two-point perspective - a common term for diagonal perspective (although the drawing may in fact include more than two vanishing points).

vanishing point (VP) - a point on the horizon towards which a set of parallel lines will converge.

vertical datum - an intersection of the object with the picture plane at which a vertical scale can easily be determined.

viewer centred - a drawing system, based on a spectator's viewpoint. A perspective drawing is one type of viewer centred system.

viewing distance - the distance between the spectator and the object depicted or picture plane.

viewing position - the fixed view point from which a perspective view is constructed.

viewpoint - see 'viewing position'.

visual pyramid - the cone of visual rays that converge at the eye or 'viewing position'.

visual rays - a straight line, running from a point on an object to the eye.

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The Brothers Quay and Anamorphosis

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