Optical Art in The Creative Arts

Optical Art in The Creative Arts

Introduction

For centuries, artists have been intrigued by the nature of optical effects, illusions, and perceptions. The creative arts are considered a natural aspect of humanity as it is a field aimed at helping individuals learn through seeing and understanding memorized information and patterns. Optical art generates perceptive responses with the dynamic qualities that provide sensations and illusions to the individuals (Rogers, 2014). Further, optical art is portrayed as a higher Science that is linked to delicate retinal art based on the theories of visual illusions and the perceptions of various movements. In this paper, there will be a detailed analysis of the history of optical illusions in art, the most relevant key features, extraordinary contributions, and the impact of optical arts in the field of creative arts.

History of Optical Art

The 1950s were characterized by new ideologies that included psychology and technology, which later bloomed into movements. Optical art was first used as a term by Donald Judd while reviewing optical paintings done by Julian Stanczak. However, it gained publicity in 1964 in an article on Times Magazine even though optical art was in existence for several years. First explored in 1930 by Victor Vasarely, he focuses on the effects that were available then and used them in advertising. Bridget Riley, a prominent advertiser, exhibited optical art in 1695 under the name The Responsive Art, which later gained so much public attention (Riley et al. 2019). This exhibition received mixed reactions as some viewers found the paintings to be inharmonious and very disturbing, while most of them were amazed by this new approach towards art as it was able to offer progression and define Scientific laws. As a result of this exhibition, optical art was everywhere in advertising on televisions and prints.

Key Features of Optical Art

To understand the key aspects of optical art, it is important to define the term to understand what it focuses on in the creative arts. As used in the creative arts, Ghada (2018) defines optical arts is a form of abstract or concrete art that is made up of non-representative geometric figures that can create various types of optical illusions. Optical art aims at exploiting a functional relationship between the brain and the retina in the eye. Some of the visual stimuli tend to cause confusion between the eyes and the brain, which results in the perception of an irrational optical occurrence that artists use to present a full effect of optical art.

The first feature of optical art is that it creates a visual tension in the mind of the viewer, which offers the illusions of movement on a two-dimensional surface. Images or pictures of optical art tend to cause detection of movement in the yes, which sometimes is perceived as a swelling, flashing, a vibration, or a warping on the painting’s surface (Azlan et al. 2015). Another feature is that the critical techniques that are used in optical art tend to create a sharp juxtaposition of color either in chromatic or achromatic forms. The final key feature is that optical art uses specific elements that are carefully selected to deliver a maximum effect of illusion through quality and vibrance (Linnell et al. 2018).

Important Contributions to Optical Art

Many artists contributed significantly to Optical art; however, the top three contributors include Victor Vasarely, Maurits Cornelis Escher, and Bridget Riley. At first, Vasarely’s work was not considered optical art as he was worked as a graphic designer who used chromatic patterns and organic shapes to develop optical geometric structured themes. Using a combination of sculpture and painting, he created an illusion of depth to pioneer a version of the Alphabet Plastique, which was considered is the most significant contribution (Wade, 2014). Escher was known for using impossible constructions, architecture, infinity explorations, and tessellations. His work portrayed a mathematical relationship between spaces, shapes, and figures. Inspired by Italian and Romanian landscapes, he became interested in concepts related to regular plane divisions, which he used in his work (Riley et al. 2019). Bridget Riley, a British artist, used optical art in her work to engage an individual’s perceptions, sensations, and the production of visual experiences that were complex and challenging. Her work merged both the psychological and physiological responses, which led to the term Riley Illusion which described the effect of looking at her work in black and white images.

Impact of Optical Art

The general public has embraced optical art in so many ways despite the criticism of the optical art movement as a gimmicky and fleeting trend. One of the impacts that optical art was that the fashion industry borrowed it in creating trendy pieces. This was mainly after the Responsive Eye exhibition, where designers created dresses that illustrated optical art (Fatman & Özlem, 2019). Other impacts were also in other clothing pieces such as t-shirts, illustrations in books, and posters. These trends are still applicable to date, and even though they are not so pronounced, they are combined with new artistic skills and techniques that are being used in modern society.

Conclusion

Optical art has revolutionized how creative arts continue to develop in modern society. As an essential part of art, the distinctive features used in its form, its significant contributions to fashion and advertising indicate that optical art has transformed our perception of the creative arts by breaking barriers and getting into the unknown world of art.