Anamorphosis

A distorted or monstrous projection or representation of an image on a plane or curved surface, which, when viewed from a certain point, or as reflected from a curved mirror or through a polyhedron, appears regular and in proportion; a deformation of an image.
- Webster’s, 1913.

I’ve decided this is a subject too interesting too pass up. I was first introduced to the phenomena of Anamorphosis through a short Penn & Teller informational video on the mechanics of artistic perspective in an art class, but it wasn’t until some time later when I discovered the work of the Brothers Quay in the form of a Kino Video release, fully-loaded with slightly grainy, but still beautiful films that I was properly introduced to the fascinating subject.

Anamorphosis is a technique of optical distortion to create an image which, at first glance, is either completely hidden behind groupings of anonymous lines or various images created atop it, or appears to be something else completely. Yet, when viewed at a certain angle, or through a particular means of reflection to reverse the distortion, the initial image becomes clear. The first known example of Anamorphosis, a sketch from Leonardo Da Vinci’s diaries, dates back to the late 1400s. Hans Holbein the Younger, an early 16th century German artist most known for his woodcuts of the Dance of Death, was very interested in the process, and went on to paint perhaps the most well-known example of Renaissance Anamorphosis, the 1533 painting ‘The Ambassadors.’

During the 19th century the technique became more of a novelty feature, and dropped from the realm of fine art. Yet, not only did Anamorphosis see new life during the 20th century, from artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali, it has also become the basic principle behind such film formats as CinemaScope and Panavision, employing anamorphic lenses on motion picture cameras and projectors; ‘squeezing’ the image horizontally to fit into the film frame, and then ‘stretching’ it while being projected through a complementary lens during projection.

Anamorphosis
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De Artificiali Perspectiva (Anamorphosis), 1991, by the Brothers Quay.