ILLUSION CONFUSION

A new book published by Thames & Hudson and edited by Paul M. Baars.

This comprehensive survey of optical illusions includes an astonishing range of images from ancient times to the present. Covering illusions of depth, inversions, vibration effects, ambiguous figures, camouflage, anamorphic art, tessellations and other visual brain-teasers, it presents examples from psychology, the popular press, the decorative arts, contemporary street art and the fine arts. 22 of my works are in the book in very honorable company: Arcimboldo, Dalí, M. C. Escher, Vasarely, Magritte, Liu Bolin, Jos de Mey, Oscar Reutersvard, John Pugh, Akiyoshi Kitaoka, etc.

LEO & MATH

Leonardo + mathematics. Meeting about mathematics related work of Leonardo da Vinci in Brussels.  
The location will be the Brussels Muntpunt. Date: April 4 – 5.
Lecturers in chronological order: Dirk Huylebrouck (Belgium), Jos Janssen (The Netherlands), Rinus Roelofs (The Netherlands), Denes Nagy (Australia), Tibor Tarnai and Andras Lengyel (Hungary), Eva Gyarmathy (Hungary), Ken Brecher (USA), Patrick W Fowler (Great Britain), Eugene A. Katz (Israel), Gabriele A. Losa (Switzerland), István Orosz (Hungary). Johan Rutgeerts (Belgium), Laurens Luyten (Belgium), Javier Barrallo (Spain): Radmila Sazdanovic (USA) Slavik Jablan (Serbia): Elena Maria Marchetti and Luisa Rossi-Costa (Italy): Christopher W. Tyler (USA): Andrew Furman (Great Britain) and Karel Wuytack (Belgium) David Wade (Wales); Jos Pauwels (Belgium); Antonia Redondo(Spain), Koen Deprez (Belgium): Walt van Ballegooijen (The Netherlands).
The title of my lecture: Leonardo and the „Secret Perspective”. It will be on Friday (4th of April) at 4 PM. Let me give a short detail:
"In a letter (to Pirckheimer, dated October 13th, 1506) Dürer recounts his plan to ride out from Venice to Bologna to meet someone who would initiate him into the secret art of perspective. If we let our imagination run wild, we might suspect Leonardo da Vinci. But the voice of reason points to the Franciscan monk and mathematician Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli, a close colleague and friend of Leonardo’s, who had to make the long ride from Florence to hook up with Dürer. The tryst probably did take place, at least on the evidence of a painting by the Venetian painter Jacopo de Barbari, and provided that one is prepared to recognize the German artist in the figure of the man standing behind the monk.  More difficult to answer is the question of what Dürer really had in mind in describing the art of perspective as “secret” (“heimlich”). He could hardly have meant “perspective” in its everyday sense of “vision from a distance,” as we continue to use the word today, given that he was well familiar with the concept and had employed it widely in practice. As previously mentioned, however, the term had a far broader scope of meaning in those days, which encompassed the tricks of anamorphic representation, especially when the word perspective was accompanied by the adjective “secret.”  This adjective is certainly apt to describe the technique whereby the artist distorts an object beyond recognition, reserving the ability to reconstitute the undeformed image for a select few privy to a clever ruse." 

In the same evening at 7PM in the Hungarian Cultural Centre (nearby) I will give another lecture (Hidden Images) and I will show some animations. You are welcome to both events.

COSSACKS

In about 1675 the Sultan of Turkey sent a threatening letter to the Zaporozhian cossacks demanding their submission to him, to which the cossacks replied with an abusive parody of the Sultan's letter. The legendary rescript was assigned by Ivan Sirko Cossack military leader (kosh otaman). The story later became the subject of a famous painting by Ilya Repin. I enclose the original version of the letter in Ukrainian, the English translation and the Hungarian one, that I did in rhyme (a la Apollinaire).  

Ти, султан, чорт турецкий, і проклятого чорта брат і товарищ, самого Люцефера секретар. Який ти в чорта лицарь, коли голою сракою їжака не вб’єш. Чорт висирає, а твоє війско пожирає. Не будеш, сукін ти сину, синів христіянських під собою мати, твойого війска ми не боїмось, землею і водою будем биться з тобою, распройоб твою мать.Вавилоньский ти кухарь, Макидоньский колесник, Ієрусалимський бравирник, Александрійський козолуп, Великого и Малого Єгипта свинарь, Армянська злодиюка, Татарський сагайдак, Каменецкий кат, у всего світу і підсвіту блазень, самого гаспида внук и нашого хуя крюк. Свиняча ти морда, кобиляча срака, різницька собака, нехрещений лоб, мать твою вйоб.От так тобі запорожці висказали, плюгавче. Не будешь ти і свиней христіанских пасти. Теперь кончаймо, бо числа не знаємо і календаря не маємо, місяць у небі, рік у книзі, а день такий у нас, який і у Вас, за це поцілуй в сраку нас!

You Turkish Satan, brother and comrade of the damned devil and secretary to Lucifer himself! What the hell kind of knight are you? The devil shits and you and your army swallow it. You aren't fit to have the sons of Christians under you; we aren't afraid of your army, and we'll fight you on land and sea. You Babylonian busboy, Macedonian mechanic, Jerusalem beerbrewer, Alexandrian goatskinner, swineherd of Upper and Lower Egypt, Armenian pig, Tatar goat, Kamenets hangman, Podolian thief, grandson of the Evil Serpent himself, and buffoon of all the world and the netherworld, fool of our God, swine's snout, mare's a[ssho]le, butcher's dog, unbaptized brow, may the devil steam your ass! That's how the cossacks answer you, you nasty glob of spit! You're unfit to rule true Christians. We don't know the date because we don't have a calendar, the month is in the sky, and the year is in a book, and the day is the same with us as with you, so go kiss our butt!

Te sátánfatty, te véres ördög,
Lucifer seggében továris,
ugyan miféle hős lehetsz te,
pucér üleppel sünre lesve,
hogy fölpattanj hátára máris!
 
Behabzsolt és kiszart sereg
kakabűzös ármádia,
jöhetsz te földön és vízen,
keresztény nem félhet, hiszen
csak orrát kell befognia.

Bábel szakácsa, macedón
sintérfi, lófatos bakó,
sörlögybölő, te Jeruzsálem
csúfsága, nincs, ki berosáljon,
tetőled, vitéz bakbaszó.
 
Birodalmak kondása, te
ártány minden égtájakon,
örmény, tatár, lengyel, magyar
huszár faszán lehetsz kanyar,
te kígyógörcs, bohóc-rokon.

Disznópofa és kancasegg,
hentes kutyája, árva tök,
anyádnak ótvaros picsája,
húgy fröccsen rája, sárga csája, 
mert meg se kúrjuk, kisköcsög.
Hát véssed mindezt jól eszedbe,
és memorizáld, főtakony!
Zaporozsje kozákjai
írták, a dátum épp mai.
Ennyi fért el egy oldalon.

PIIRRETTY AIKA

Printmaking and Photography Centre Ratamo presents Graphic Works by Istvan Orosz in Galleria Ratamo 6^th – 30^th March. Address: Veturitallinkatu 6, Jyväskylä, Finland.
There are things that I can imagine and I can draw. There are things, that I can imagine, but I cannot draw. The real question is: if I can draw something that I am not able to imagine "?

"On asioita jotka pystyn kuvittelemaan ja piirtämään. On asioita, jotka pystyn kuvittelemaan, mutten piirtämään. Mutta pystynkö piirtämään sellaista jota en voi kuvitella? Nuorena kuulin usein sanonnan että katso asian toistakin puolta. Selvää oli että tärkeämmillä teoksilla on useita merkityksiä, ainakin niitä on kaksi. Kaksimerkityksellisten kuvien ja ajan yhteys on ilmeinen. Kuvat merkitsevät eri asioita kaukaa ja läheltä katsottuina. Ensimmäinen käsitys saattaa olla muotokuva, mutta toinen saattaa olla maisemakuva. Katsoja muuttuu kuvan tekijäksi. Kun piirrän arkkitehtonisia mahdottomuuksia, kokeilen oikeastaan sellaisten tilaparadoksien ilmentämistä, jotka eivät ole koskaan ajasta riippumattomia. Todellisuuden ja kuvitelman toisiinsa rakentuvat kerrokset, toistensa kanssa yhteen kietoutuvat erikoiset lenkit herättävät usein loputtomuuden – tai ajattomuuden – illuusion. Näytteille asetetuilla arkeilla kokeilen aikaan liittyvien mielikuvieni ilmentämistä piirtämällä.”

HOMAGE TO THE TRIANGLE

DUBITANDUM CATALOGUE

A wonderful catalogue was published for the „Dubitandum” exhibition in Ernest Zmeták Art Gallery in Nové Zámky (Érsekújvár). The text was written by Máté Csanda (in Slovak, in English and in Hungarian) and the graphic appearance was designed by VladislavRostoka. (To see his former "Orosz book" click here.)

PARIS BY NIGHT...

 

Célébrer Paris