This colonial island nation located southeast of Africa in the Indian Ocean offers a spectacular sight from above. This view is possible from the southeastern tip of the island of Mauritius. The waterfall illusion in Mauritius is created by the runoff of sand and silt instead of water.
The clarity of the water brings to light those deposits. Directly above, it almost looks like an underwater vortex. After all, it’s just natural beauty. It also makes you sort of understand why ancient civilizations hundreds of years ago used to think that the earth was flat. Those who think it today have no excuse.
Anamorphic Art
This illusion takes "on top of the world" to a whole new level. French artist François Abélanet constructed this green globe outside of Paris City Hall for a 2011 art presentation. He called it “Qui Croire?” or “Who to Believe?”
The massive project required 90 people and five days to construct it. It’s actually 100 meters long and not a sphere at all. From one angle, it looks like a perfect globe. But from the side, it is revealed to be a long stretch of 1,200 square meters of lawn patched together. If you’re curious how this 3D anamorphosis artwork works, check out “Qui Croire?” on YouTube. It’s amazing!
Trip Out on This Hallway
Don’t trip! It is entirely flat, actually, so tripping should not be a problem. Looking at this hallway floor might have you thinking there is some quicksand involved or that it was made by people who usually build waterbeds. In reality, however, it's a perfectly solid, walkable floor. To create the effect, the tile company laid the floor in a curved pattern.
Each tile was not square-shaped but rather cut into various shapes to create a trippy design. This artistic walkway was installed by the British tiling company Casa Ceramica. The warped-looking floor serves as the entrance to their Manchester showroom.
Stay Focused!
Look at one set of eyes and mouth or, rather, try. Easier said than done. This image makes it almost impossible to focus on just one set of facial features. This is why we are so happy the artist also included the mask on the side — it's the one focal point in this painting that helps us not get dizzy.
It’s an optical illusion that makes us think we have double vision. Since the face is one of the most recognizable images that our brain processes, the distortion causes confusion. A similar image has been used in a drunk driving awareness advertisement. Do you feel intoxicated looking at his face?
The Classic “Café Wall” Optical Illusion
The Café Wall optical illusion falls under the category of distorting illusions. Similar to the artwork of Peter Kogler, it tricks the eyes into believing a flat surface has different characteristics. We know it’s hard to believe, but all these horizontal lines run parallel to each other. It is difficult to tell from the angle of this photograph, yet it’s true; the tiles are square.
What causes visual and cognitive confusion is twofold. First, it is the way the tiles do not line up exactly at their corners; each corner is off just slightly. Secondly, the use of visible mortar lines completes the illusion. The original locale, this pattern, was identified as an optical illusion that occurred at a local UK café in St. Michael’s Hill, Bristol.