“Unspirals” is a series of silkscreen-print projects (still in progress). These colorful geometric op art works appear to rotate and move. They are great promotional supports for companies and products.
Kinoptic Circles
Curiosities
Illusive Halo
An optical illusion I created years ago for the Gewerbemuseum of Winterthur, Switzerland. The orange halo around the contour of the eye doesn’t exist, it’s a construct of your brain.
This illusive effect is related to the “neon color spreading” phenomenon.
Amazing Brightness Constancy Effect
Look carefully at the saw-tooth wave patterns on this picture. Is the background of the picture uniformly gray or are there different shades of gray?
Brightness constancy makes some vertical strips look darker, when in fact the gray background is all the same shade of gray.
This op art work is available as prints and canvases from my official online Gallery.
Turning Gray Shades Into Colors With A Tinted Geometric Grid
This is an old technique that uses the “color assimilation” effect to colorize pictures. This perceptual effect, also known by scientists as the Von Bezold spreading effect, occurs when our visual system transfers perceived colors to their adjacent areas.
Is the first photo of a variety of pumpkins in color?
Op Art & Electronics
Geometric shapes are not limited only to the figurative aspect, they can also play active roles, for instance, serving in microelectronics to build operational printed circuits such as: small inductors (magnified, fig. a below), resistors (fig. b) and capacitors (fig. c). (image taken from my book “Almanach du Mathématicien en Herbe“)
Paradoxical Elastic Squares
A math-magic article I wrote for the German magazine Zeit Wissen: with the 13 triangular and square pieces (fig. 1) it is possible to form two large squares shown in fig. 2. Though the second large square has an extra piece the dimensions of the squares seem to be the same! Can you explain why this is possible?
Here’s a wooden version of the puzzle I designed in the late 1990s. Each set of pieces is made in a different color, giving the puzzle a clean, elegant look while making its deceptive geometry even more striking.
I am looking for a game manufacturer able to produce and distribute this incredible puzzle. You can contact me through my website.
☞ Further reading: explore the complete Vanishing Piece Puzzle project on my Behance profile.
Convex / Concave
Convex / Concave, it all depends on your point of view!
Although the plates are the same, in the second picture, the indents of the egg plate look more like convex domes rather than concave indents.
Insegno Arcani
My name’s anagram (by Dario Uri): Gianni Sarcone → Insegno Arcani (Italian for “I reveal / teach mysteries”)
Perpetual Motion
Is this a real perpetual motion machine?
Obviously not… The closest thing to a “perpetual motion machine” is the Beverly clock whose mechanism is driven by variations in atmospheric pressure, and by daily temperature variations.
Illusive Color Radial Beams
“Deep Blue”, the yellowish rays you see in this picture are a construct of your brain. My op art work is available as prints from Saatchi Art gallery.
