Here is some pseudomodern art in a style that became quite popular in the 1960s. Scroll until the image is centered on your screen. Stare at it and let your eyes relax. You should shortly see strange movements along the diagonals of the image, and eventually a kind of “sizzling” effect. Alas, the illusion is pretty weak. This is what in the 1960s was called Optical Art, or “Op Art” for short.

Bridget Riley

Daniel Boiteau

This art style had a dramatic influence on 1960s clothing styles as well, especially in “Mod Olde London”, which we were told, “swung like a pendulum do.” Op art is very easy to generate with modern graphics programs, and there are huge numbers of pseudo-op artworks posted on the Internet. There are also, of course, still artists working in this tradition. The ease with which computer art can be animated has led to apparent op art in which the “apparent” movement which the original artists achieved by optical illusion is in fact real!

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For more on the Op Art movement click here, or here, or here. For computer art influenced by Op Art and optical illusion, click here. For the influence of Op Art on dress design... you are on your everlovin’ own!

illusion in the set