Brilliant.
The “Emergence Lab,” a complex anamorphic sculpture by Austrian glass sculptor Thomas Medicus, boasts six hand-painted images in a translucent cube. The cube is made up of 216 laser-cut acrylic glass strips, and the fragmented paintings are designed to perfectly align when viewed directly from each side of the cube.
Cleverly, each image perfectly fills the outline of its counterpart on the opposite side. Since the sculpture is translucent, Medicus devised a plan to ensure there were no irritating reflections within the strips — it floats in a particular silicone oil, as he explains on his website. This also gives it the look of solid glass.
What inspired this unique piece? A phenomenon called emergence. In philosophy, art, systems theory, and science, emergence is the process by which larger patterns arise through the interactions of smaller or simpler entities that don’t exhibit these properties by themselves. A prime example of emergence is the formation of the complex symmetrical and fractal patterns in a snowflake.
Watch the stunning video of Emergence Lab above, and check out photographs of the design process on Thomas Medicus’ website.
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