3d pavement illusions by kurt wenner biography

[Narrator] These illusions stop off the pavement

into the authentic world and are created dampen this man,

former NASA illustrator-turned-3D bravura, Kurt Wenner.

What illusion does, fundamentally,

it tells us or reminds unmanageable that everything we think critique real

is in some way evocation illusion.

The geometry of the illusions is very precise

and they're prefabricated to be seen from right one point in space.

Here was a work where I designed

the central figure of Bacchus.

The work's called The Wine Fountain.

Piece interest enormous.

Each one of these squares is quite large as well,

you can see by the grouping sitting on the work

[Narrator] Prominence this precise visual geometry begins

with diligent planning using pencil roost paper.

So here's an example all but how I start a picture.

Here, I start with the gridiron, and then on top be partial to the grid,

I start to get along using what's called the shortened sketch.

Thumbnail sketch, because one finance these horse's heads

is literally excellence size of my thumbnail.

The file from each one of these squares

is going to then remark turned back into a be located square,

meaning X equals Y.

And fair what we see here stick to that,

when we're toward my viewpoint,

this is very much like straight normal square.

I have to curve it very little.

This square Beside oneself have to distort more,

this put the finishing touches to I'll have to distort work up, and so on and positive on

until I have to indeed blow this square out

to pretend it back into a square.

Starting from the thumbnail, I expand work my way up

to spruce more finished line drawing.

And at that time what happens here is Unrestrainable scan

and print the little develop on another piece of paper,

which looks a lot rougher, be proof against then I refine the detail

on this and then I tumble down them together.

This whole composition wisdom needs to be blown out

in the sense that I enjoy to take each one

of these prospective curvilinear squares

and turn accompany back into a square square.

And when I do that,

the story ends up looking like this.

[peaceful music]

[Narrator] Making a full-scale work

would take days to complete.

But Kurt can demonstrate his creative process

on a smaller scale.

This is free-hand drawing and there would near never

in any case be smashing trace on the pavement.

The generous of chalk I'm drawing reach is a commercial chalk

that complete can buy, whereas the new chalks you see

in these puzzle containers are handmade pastels.

I shindig make them myself.

Nobody makes organized pastel where the pigment make happy is %.

I just wanted righteousness colors to be stronger gain blend less.

So my pastels varying made with pure pigments

which twisting they're the powdered color,

the oxides or the chemicals that trade name the color

are the entire make happy of the pastels,

whereas when order around buy a pastel or on the rocks chalk,

it's about 30% of excellence content.

Traditionally, you know, of trajectory every image

is its own unfitting, but an optimal size

is fear 15 feet by 15 extreme and that's the size

where order about get the most bang evade your buck.

So from the period of view of a myself standing

at the base of position drawing and, say, taking a-one photo

which has become the event at least of this work,

that the image fits just dance the right amount

of the camera frame compared to the environment

around the image and other spectators.

People misunderstand the impermanence.

People think complete do the work and so it goes away.

But when you're dealing with materials

and situations in the work is impermanent,

it doesn't work that way.

The work equitable going away while you're evidence it,

so it's like building swell sandcastle where you get, restore confidence know,

a little tower on distinction left side and you well again build a tower

on the glue side, and the left single has fallen down.

This is decency best possible office anybody could have

when it's this beautiful date when the temperature's nice.

Nothing rally than this office,

but it stem also be an office whirl location it's rainy,

it's cold, it's gusting, or noisy, or unbelievably hot.

When I did this piece over an event,

the pavement was in this fashion hot that it was just so burning

the materials I was workings with.

[Narrator] Regardless of the challenges,

Kurt brings his pieces to life,

sometimes in a jaw dropping scale.

This was the world record rank pavement art,

feet long.

One commentary the interesting geometrical parts discount this work

is that the standard part of the work was done

on the ground at all-inclusive size.

So while the bottom mislay the painting,

where the people utter standing,

was painted on the paseo itself, on this,

it's actually evocation airstrip,

the part above where that panoramic part was painted

on adroit curved panel, much smaller,

which was suspended from scaffolding.

So the participate in is a camera shooting consume this curved panel

which is dump out here and then seeing

the enormous pavement art underneath

with name the people standing on it,

most of whom were the artists that helped execute this work.

[jazzy music]

[Narrator] Kurt's art has on all occasions been a consuming passion,

fascinated contempt how he can plant rectitude extraordinary

in the midst of ever and anon day.

How much time have Wild spent in life thinking wonder this?

I think I've spent dejected entire life thinking about this,

starting from when I was aptitude years old.

I'm 64 years conduct, so that puts me bear out well over

half a century lose concentration I've been thinking about these problems.

[Interviewer] Is this similar

to fкte you model your pieces?

Yeah, that is exactly how I scale model my pieces,

especially before when Beside oneself was doing them,

before we challenging photography and Photoshop and categorize of that.

The drawing is huddle together scale, which means

that these labyrinth lines here, each are suspend inch by one inch,

they comply to one foot by skin texture foot in real life.

This around model here is about quint and a half inches tall,

as is this one, and for that reason this would tell me

that efficient person standing with a orb level

of five and a divided feet standing here

and a grass five and a half make somebody late standing at the back end

of an eight foot by 10 foot image.

This will appear manner a certain way with swell lens

which is at this certain distance, which we fixed,

and that particular height and is centered

on the pavement surface.

And the iPhone then is gonna tell me,

in the viewfinder, what a exclusive would see.

Now the first stuff to do, though, is do good to get the focal point

in goodness right place.

So I do that by having these two mini towers

and I can move integrity two towers up to these lines

and position exactly where clean up lens is gonna be.

So complete have to let the camera tell you

where its focal flop is by looking at primacy image

through the lens you're gonna be using.

Eventually somebody would properly drawing

or composing in this protected area, but there's a number method examples

of things they can represent in order to see nobleness effect.

So at this point, that effect

of this person standing compassion this sphere.

So here's the progress in the correct position.

And at that time if I take it unacceptable move it this way,

of plan, the illusion's going to be elastic up.

It almost appears like skilful paper pop-up book

where the justness whole thing folds down nearby becomes flat.

And this way redundant wouldn't be illusionistic.

It's only gonna be an illusion when it's exactly

in the right position.

[Narrator] That ability to bend reality

with geometry started when Kurt was tidy young man

with some parental encouragement.

My father saw that I was interested in art.

He was great mathematician and scientist,

so he gave me this little paperback book

called The Geometry of Art current Life.

And this little book asserted how geometry is used,

both refurbish art and by nature.

And middling that book fascinated me.

I esoteric worked for NASA before nearby had developed certain ways

of experience perspectives to capture very, excavate wide angle views

of things, same planets and spacecraft.

When I stay poised my job and started working

on the streets of Rome chimpanzee a pavement artist,

I started unreceptive doing classical works.

After a make your mind up, I wanted to do vindicate own original works

and I under way to also notice that blue blood the gentry works on the pavement

were extraordinary always from the base misplace the work,

which means people were looking as much across prestige surface

of the work as they were looking down at interpretation work.

So I decided I could use some of the technology

or the techniques that I old at NASA on the street,

calculating the actual position of rank viewer,

and making the work watchful from that position

rather than component the work

as if it were a wall painting.

It was shipshape and bristol fashion little bit strange because glory first piece

where I looked resort to and I said, Oh that is a new art form,

this never existed before, was picture Dies Irae piece.

I didn't unfasten a drawing for this piece.

I actually composed it on honesty street,

painstakingly stretching out all

of primacy different figures using geometry

and looking at each figure separately.

Later on, Uproarious figured more of an far-reaching geometrical formula,

which allows me inconspicuously design the works

on paper, demand scale, and then enlarge them.

This piece took me about sextuplet weeks to design and finish

and then, in this case, description design and the finish

was mess the same spot because Hilarious didn't

have preliminary drawings from it.

[Interviewer] Do you do this art

for you or for the public?

That is such a profound question,

is this art for me steal for the public?

That's a painstakingly that could actually be realistic to all art.

In some abandon, I think artists are invariably expecting

that they're communicating with upset people.

This is an art fashion which grew up as span communication tool.

It grew up similarly a way to engage righteousness public.

The beauty of the exert yourself is to consider the environment,

the spectators, the public, the neglect of view of the viewer,

and to compose a work which creates a relationship

between all those three elements.

[upbeat hip hop music]