Cryptic Curiosities: Pepper's Ghost

During the Victorian Era, many were fascinated with afterlife, ghosts, and communicating with spirits.  Thus, spiritualism was a major near-religion for people during this time in history.  Psychic readings, séances, spirit photography, and other curiosities sought to appease the public's hunger for the supernatural.  Additionally, the "Ghost Show" was born.

The Ghost Show allowed audience members to witness the appearance of spirits in the comfort of the theater.  However, the conjuring of these ghosts was actually a clever illusion devised by the creator of the Ghost Show, John Henry Pepper. Unlike many "ghost-makers" during this time, Pepper never attempted to pass off his ghosts as anything more than illusion and did not seek to take advantage of his audience, but to entertain and even educate.

Pepper, a professor of chemistry, developed the illusion by taking advantage of successive reflections (the same kind of reflections you might notice in the glass as you ride in a car at night).  The trick worked in this way:  A projectionist below the stage shined an intense beam of light on an actor portraying a ghost.  A large sheet of glass tilted at a 45 degree angle toward the audience reflected the image of the actor below to give the audience the illusion of a semi-transparent "ghost" on stage.  Through careful coordination and stage direction, actors were able to interact with the fabricated phantoms.

A similar technique is occasionally used even to this day to create 3-dimensional holograms.

The Art of M.C. Escher

I suppose it was in elementary school that I first encountered the work of  the Dutch artist M.C. Escher.  In middle school, he was one of the few artists I could be bothered with remembering.  I long associated Escher with illusions primarily, as many probably do today.

But Escher was actually a very versatile artist and his collection of works proves to be quite multifaceted.

It is evident that Escher was fascinated with the interplay between light and shadow, perspective, and meticulous geometry.  The majority of his works combine these elements to produce his distinct, typically monochromatic style.

Below are examples of Escher's impossible architecture, for which he is probably best known.

Escher also specialized in mind-bending illusions that seem to blend two-dimensional drawings with the appearance of three-dimensional forms.

Finally, Escher was also fascinated with tessellations, which usually involved geometric tiles that do not overlap.  In pieces such as these, Escher's artistic prowess combines with precise mathematics to give the viewers of his pieces a glimpse of  apparent infinity.

It's no wonder that the works of M.C. Escher continue to mesmerize and amaze even to this day!

Mind-Bending Optical Illusions!