[kafkaesque]

i'm currently taking an introductory psychology course from a renowned psychologist and neuroscientist, and a recent lecture we had dealt with visual illusions. during the lecture, he provided a number of really cool explanations for various illusions. i approached him after class with MPP's cover to see if he could parse what was going on. he then told me to send it to him so that he could spend more time thinking about it. so, i sent him an email with the cover (and recommended that he listen to it!), and here was his reply:

"Thanks, kafkaesque. Believe it or not there is no good explanation for the visual illusion on the album cover. Eye movements have something to do with it, but that’s all I could find, and I can’t figure it out myself.

Glad to have the tip on Animal Collective – they are indeed highly original and musical.

Best,
Prof. Steve"

there you have it, folks. there is no explanation for MPP's cover illusion - or at least no readily-accepted one. the mystery and magic of this band is beyond scientific understanding lol

[Fovrodi]

There are explanations

“We saw this optical illusion in a magazine article whilst waiting at the airport on our way down to Athens, Georgia where we were going to mix the record” says Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) calling 3D World from his home in Lisbon, Portugal, kissing his daughter goodnight as our interview gets underway. “I think it was a Scientific American and it was all about the neuroscience of optical illusions, and it was one among many – but this one stood out to us and became this iconic image of the music over the course of that week… It has this weird magical quality to it and I was hoping it would give the impression that there is some kind of a supernatural thing inside of it.”

http://darkhabits.blogspot.com/2009/02/ ... e.html?m=1

[kafkaesque]

could you cite the explanation please? there are well-founded explanations for a lot of illusions, but i'm not sure this one is figured out yet (even if it was featured in scientific american alongside others). i knew it was inspired by that japanese psychologist's work, but just creating an illusion isn't the same as being able to explain it

i'd love to see some proposed explanations if there are some, though!

[roopn]

I don't have an explanation, but it's interesting to note that it works way better on a compter screen than it does printed in real life.

[kafkaesque]

so true! i noticed the same thing; it's like night and day

[pioneerpreserve]

explanation? you be tripping mane

[Tropic]

This thread title and first paragraph are pretty funny given the rest

[jetski]

Found this: http://idsgn.org/posts/animal-collective/
Still doesn't seem to totally explain it, but basically because the direction/angle of the shading on the outline of each leaf is different, it tricks your brain into seeing movement

wrote:

The perceived movement in the cover art is caused by an anomalous motion illusion. It really comes down to 2 basic things: the leaves' outline, and the leaves' rotation.

The conflicting luminosity from the rotation of the leaves (and their outlines) artificially activate motion-detecting neurons in the brain. The result is your brain being fooled into seeing "motion" in a static image.

if you google 'Anomalous motion illusion' you can find more examples too http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/motion-e.html

[scarfacesam317]

I have a b.s. in neuro and in my sensations and perceptions course im 99% sure this illusion was in my textbook. I remember thinking of AC when i saw it and how badass it was. Ill see if i can find my textbook when i get home later. This was like 2-3 years ago so hopefully i still have it!

[csw]

kafkaesque wrote:

Glad to have the tip on Animal Collective – they are indeed highly original and musical.

Your professor is amazing

[Tropic]

Yeah through messing around with this image over the years it became clear that it doesn't work without the black/white outlines on the leaves.

[kafkaesque]

csw wrote:

kafkaesque wrote:

Glad to have the tip on Animal Collective – they are indeed highly original and musical.

Your professor is amazing

indeed he is. one of my personal heroes.

@victor thanks for that! i imagine my professor found something similar but wasn't totally satisfied. i also noted to him the shading around the leaves (half black, half white) and how that might affect the brain's perception of motion and light. i mean, we all know that the brain is being fooled into seeing motion where there is none. but for many illusions (including the one recently posted in the PW thread), there are detailed explanations for what's going on. i'm not sure such a breakdown exists for this illusion, but again, i really appreciate the links people are finding - maybe we're getting closer! after all, i don't know how long my professor spent researching the image (probably not too long; he's a busy guy)

[SpaceAnimal]

Fovrodi wrote:

There are explanations

“We saw this optical illusion in a magazine article whilst waiting at the airport on our way down to Athens, Georgia where we were going to mix the record” says Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) calling 3D World from his home in Lisbon, Portugal, kissing his daughter goodnight as our interview gets underway. “I think it was a Scientific American and it was all about the neuroscience of optical illusions, and it was one among many – but this one stood out to us and became this iconic image of the music over the course of that week… It has this weird magical quality to it and I was hoping it would give the impression that there is some kind of a supernatural thing inside of it.”

http://darkhabits.blogspot.com/2009/02/ ... e.html?m=1

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[jetski]

Fovrodi wrote:

http://darkhabits.blogspot.com/2009/02/interview-animal-collective.html?m=1

best part of this interview is when the guy describes their high school band as "a little indie rock band called Automine." Makes it sounds like they were some kind of big seminal artist but he's downplaying their importance

[Enn Eye]

topical illusion

Spoiler: show

[kafkaesque]

fucking hell. that shit is intense. i saw an illusion like that in an art gallery once, and i actually had to look away because it was messing with me too much

[Enn Eye]

Think it's a recent WWF campaign for 'disappearing' pandas..... maybe you caught a Bridget Riley show? sick <3