Explore a fascinating figure/ground effect in this op art piece, where 4 black illusive bangles appear to overlap with 4 white ones. The rotating patterns create a calming and hypnotic visual experience.
This design is now available as t-shirts and posters in my online gallery.
If you’re interested in creating your own op art, I also have a tutorial available on Behance.
I hope you enjoy this design, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
Although NOTHING moves on the gif below – only the colors change! – it’s easy to spot which direction the wheel is “rotating”… But which side is in front? Which side the back?
Another hypnotic version in which still squares and diamonds seem to move, but only colors change slightly!
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.
My autokinetic optic art will be presented and discussed in the German fashion magazine “Barbara” to be released on July 8.
Which direction is the rotation? Some spokes appear to rotate CW while the disc rotates CCW.
More from: https://www.archimedes-lab.org/page17b.html
Kinechromatics (patent pending) is a method of my invention for animating static images through retinal persistence and controlled interactions between additive and subtractive color systems. It produces apparent motion by sequential color filtering across layered chromatic structures, rather than relying on conventional frame-by-frame animation.
The static image above is made of 3 layers having each a different subtractive primary color (magenta, yellow, or cyan) blended in ‘multiply mode’…
What happens if we alternately overlay this image with transparent colored acetate sheets, each carrying an additive primary color (red, green, and blue)?
Kinechromatics: red filter
When viewed through a red acetate sheet, the magenta and yellow components are largely absorbed, while the cyan layer remains visible, appearing black.
Kinechromatics: green filter
Through a green acetate sheet, the cyan and yellow components are suppressed, revealing the magenta layer in black.
Kinechromatics: blue filter
Through a blue acetate sheet, the magenta and cyan components are reduced, allowing the yellow layer to emerge but appear black due to its lack of transmission in the blue range.
The animated GIF below produces a continuous motion effect using only four elements: a static base image and three full-color layers blended in multiply mode.
Colored light can also replace acetate filters, creating a seamless optical animation. Stroboscopic illumination in primary colors has the added effect of merging perceptually into white light, making the transitions visually smooth. This approach can be particularly effective in museum or gallery installations, offering a direct demonstration of how color interaction is processed by human vision. The setup consists of a static image containing the Kinechromatics pattern, illuminated sequentially by red, green, and blue projection, as shown in the animation below.
For inquiries about exhibition or collaboration, feel free to contact me.
A second example, a simple animated dancing skeleton, demonstrates the same principle:
See also:
As you surely know, the “BEST ILLUSION OF THE YEAR CONTEST” is a yearly competition under the patronage of Scientific American, organized by the Neural Correlate Company (New York, USA).
Müller-Lyer’s illusion proves that a segment can visually appear longer or shorter depending on the sense of the arrow heads at its ends. In what consists my variant? As shown in the animation, the red dot in the middle of the line is equidistant from the other two red dots, although the ends of the line visually appear to alternately stretch and shrink like a rubber band!
The radial version of the illusion is even more impressive:
The perceptual increasing and decreasing of the segments occurs in a very short time. Thus, I suppose it is more a physiological phenomenon, rather than a psychological bias. Our attention seems to be attracted by the receptive field WITHIN the V-shaped arrow heads, causing an illusory inward or outward shift of the ends of the line.
From the static image shown below (representing an automated conveyor system), it is possible to create a looping seamless animation…
Super Optical Illusions (aka Xtreme Illusions 2) is a children book project I enjoyed to make three years ago for the publishers “Carlton Books” [amazon.co.uk], “National Geographic Kids” [amazon.com] and “Ça m’intéresse” [amazon.fr]. It looks really fantastic and my pictures are large to enjoy the details! It is a family book that will encourage the young reader to explore the mysteries that lie right inside our own minds (including the key scientific concepts of perspective and perception).
Book Cover
The Reuleaux triangle is a curious geometric shape: it looks like a rounded triangle, yet it has a remarkable property. Each side is an arc drawn from the opposite vertex, and together these arcs form a curve of constant width. In other words, no matter how you measure it—between two parallel lines—the width always remains the same.
Because of this property, a curve of constant width can act as a rotor inside a square. As it turns, the shape remains in contact with all four sides of the square at every moment, tracing a continuous motion while never leaving the boundary.
Mechanisms based on intermittent motion appeared early in mechanical engineering. One of their first practical uses was in sewing machines, where motion had to advance in precise steps rather than continuously. Today similar mechanisms are widely used in devices that move film frame by frame—such as cameras, projectors, and film-processing equipment—where controlled, stop-and-go motion is essential.
