2: Far Away, Getting Close
Chuck Close
Phil, 2011-2012Oil on canvas, w213.4 cm x h275.9 cm (84" x 108.63")
Unknown location
Moving out of trompe l'oeil but still in the realm of illusion, we have various forms of optical mixing. That's that thing where instead of mixing a color (say, green) and putting it down, you put colors near each other (e.g. blue next to yellow) so that when seen at a distance, the viewer's eye merges the two and 'creates' the impression of the mixed color.
Seurat's pointillist work popularized the idea, but one of the best-known for it these days is Chuck Close, who has for decades experimented with various levels of grid-based optical mixing patterns1, as above.
In the case of these kinds of works, there is no one position for the viewer to be in, no single best vantage point. Instead, the work has been designed so that there is a range of viewing points which produce various effects as the viewer paces closer to the surface or walks farther away. (This could be thought of as the viewing 'tunnel'.)
NOTES:
1. Here's a great guide to the various ways Close has worked.
Seurat's pointillist work popularized the idea, but one of the best-known for it these days is Chuck Close, who has for decades experimented with various levels of grid-based optical mixing patterns1, as above.
In the case of these kinds of works, there is no one position for the viewer to be in, no single best vantage point. Instead, the work has been designed so that there is a range of viewing points which produce various effects as the viewer paces closer to the surface or walks farther away. (This could be thought of as the viewing 'tunnel'.)
NOTES:
1. Here's a great guide to the various ways Close has worked.