TODAY - 12 May, 2010
3D optical illusion street art by former NASA scientist Kurt Wenner
They may look like a computer-generated images but these incredible scenes are in fact hand drawn using chalk. Master artist and former NASA worker Kurt Wenner uses his mathematical skill to create illusions on cobbles and pavements across the world. The 3D artist, who was once commissioned to draw for the Pope, will soon be heading to London to unveil his latest creation. This is one of three interactive pavement art pieces commissioned for Buick motor company in 2009 in Herald Square in New York
A model of the Herald Square work. The pavement art was combined with a vertical panel for extra height, to take advantage of the limited space
As these images show, Kurt's work is so convincing that by-standers look as though they are standing on totempoles above magical worlds or driving cars from out of the ground. For 25 years the artist has been using complex calculations from his old job - creating conceptual drawings of extraterrestrial landscapes at NASA - to bring floors and walls to life. Due to the emergence of computer generated images, he was one of the very last artists to be trained how to mechanically replicate perspectives using just basic stationery and mind-bending equations
This effect was achieved by creating a 'cut out' of part of the drawing, and having the participants lie on their backs
A drawing for a piece of 3D street art called Big Lunch that will be produced in London over the coming weeks
Kurt now makes a living touring the world and creating his eye-catching creations in public projects and for the world's major companies. "The pieces look real because they are calculated to be perfectly and mathematically accurate. It's exactly how they would look if the objects in my paintings were actually there. A piece of 3D street art commissioned by British Columbia Tourism in 2010 in San Francisco
"There is a large demand for permanent 3D pavement art, both as fine art and in-store displays," he says."This has become possible in the last few years with new vinyl digital canvas products.
"I use a piece of string," says Kurt "to measure fixed points between the viewing location and the painting. This lets me calculate exactly how the perspective should be. It takes me around five to seven days to
"For my most recent piece, the Aqua Panna at the V Wine Cellars in Napa, California, I used a digital floor canvas.The final work has all the detail and texture of the original. Some of these products last outdoors for many months and can eventually be replaced if necessary."
A drawing for a piece of 3D art of a dragon in 2010 in Taiwan
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