Attempt the absurd

15 makers

Puck de Haan -
Seeing is believing

‘Seeing is believing’ explores Escher’s experience, where we observe the world through his eyes. His reality was not decided by the physical aspects of the world but by the emotional perception of it. Shapes transform into figures and tesselate into one another, like memories astray.

Website Puck 

Tessa van Vuren -
Illusion

For this work, I was inspired by the absurdist worlds M.C. Escher’s art. In the animation you can see a small character, a woman, that is stuck in a strange dream. In the dream, small references to Escher’s work can be found: birds turning into fish, reflective balls and impossible staircases. The woman is running away, but the strange world does not disappear. When it all seems to become too much, someone swoops in to help her. Achieving the impossible is as impossible as it seems.

Website Tessa

Daan Lucas -
Pulse ​

In my opinion, the power is Escher’s work is the melting together of one reality and another, like a symbiosis. Inspired on this, I made this hand drawn projection mapping¸ Pulse.

In Pulse, I want the viewer to believe that the reality and unreality are melting together in an illusion. Pulsating organic shapes cover the building like a wavy blanket and become a new reality. What remains part of the canvas, Museum Escher in het Paleis, and what is the animation?

Instagram Daan

Thijs Diksboorn -
Off the wall

What happens when the elements from M.C. Escher’s work come to life, and reside in and around ‘Het Paleis’? In a series of animations, these elements leave their world of optical illusion and start searching for connection to the architecture of the building. Because of the projection on the building, inside and outside start intermingling and a spatial optical illusion appears again. Do the disappearing points from Escher really differ that much from our daily perspective?

Website Thijs

Can Oksas -
Liquid Paintings

Inspired by Escher’s ‘Reflections in Rippled Surface,’ Liquid Paintings emerged from my curiosity about bringing still art to life through water’s flow. Infused with tessellations reminiscent of Escher’s elements, I explored how these patterns would morph when influenced by water, forming captivating shapes. This exploration fascinates me as it offers a new perspective on paintings. The colours blend seamlessly, blurring the lines between forms, evoking an illusion that the art extends beyond the confines of the canvas.

Instagram Can

Jasper Hesseling -
Digital echos in relative space

Our identity and personality, once firmly anchored in the physical world, are gradually dissolving into the vast expanse of digital space. This space is no longer limited by the physical laws of nature. We will be in a world where time and identity are dynamic and ever-shifting. My work reflects this world, inspired by the relativity studies by Escher.

Website Jasper

Franka Wiggers -
Transcending Form

“Transcending Form” is an absurdist and experimental self-portrait, attempting to reduce the complexity of the body to logical, recognizable objects. The inspiration for this piece is derived from Escher’s series of self-portraits, as well as his habit of transforming objects and beings into simple shapes. Escher’s influence shines through in the fragmentation of images on the building, with grids dynamically changing in size and cut. The frames for this animation are hand-drawn, crafted with ink on paper, paying homage Escher’s analogue work process and aesthetic.

Website Franka

Joost van Woerden -
Endless ode to Escher

In Escher’s domain where the spirit rises, turning cogwheels, time that subtly touches.

Stop motion, a ballet of wood and dream, poetry and twists, like a quiet stream.

Math whispers through meandering wheels. Ending and beginning, shadows threaded through wood. Escher’s vision, a dance of light and lines. An artful game with time, small and delicate.

A butterfly flutters, a peaceful dove floats, in a glimmer of wood where the present shivers. A message of love, an ode to the heart, braided in wood, like an artistic start.

Instagram Joost

Mans Weghorst -
Aquatic fantastic

Escher’s work seems endless in many ways, and this fascinates me. His work always has a slight twist, which allows him to create his own reality. This forms the starting point of my work. There is a species of jellyfish that is immortal, with endless life. They live in a world that us humans cannot enter, deep under the sea. This is directly in line with my fascination with Escher’s work. From this thought, I started making an endless jellyfish, in a world that we would otherwise never see.

Instagram Mans

Anthony Jégu -
The Birth of a Planetoid

This work is inspired by MC Escher’s “Tetrahedron Planetoid”, a woodcut from 1954. In one minute, the animation shows the lifespan of a singularity. It is as if a mythical, but human-related, civilization creates its own small world. And this place is ruled by a single principle: “Only those who attempt the absurd, will achieve the impossible”. The animation is a mix of 3D and 2D animations, made with Blender, After Effects and Procreate.

Website Anthony

Tim Bootsma -
Pattern Pattern

This work is a motion graphic piece with generative patterns that hypnotise and enchant. I was inspired by the geometric plane division in Escher’s art works. This is the core of the different patterns and illusions in my animation. The viewer sees a multitude of things: from wavy lines to optical illusions with colourful gradients. It is almost like a trip, with hallucinating patterns and colours that can pull you out of the here and now.

Website Tim

Dieuwer Feldbrugge -
Diffuse geometries

Inspired by M.C. Escher’s renowned blend of nature and mathematics, I embraced a similar approach. I utilized a reaction-diffusion system, a mathematical model that emulates the spread of a value across a surface in a way akin to real-life mold and bacterial movement. This data was then transformed into vivid lines, yielding a layered texture that echoes the intricate patterns and geometric designs characteristic of Escher’s work. Escher’s work profoundly inspires me as an artist, as my own creations also frequently intertwine mathematics and physics. It was an honour to create this in his memory.

Website Dieuwer

Marieke van der Burg -
SLIT

Movement is visible everywhere, even when something is standing still. To see this, we use our imagination and empathy, something that Escher truly mastered. Because even though his images are not actually moving, they are full of movement. Through repetition of transforming objected or animals, Escher worked towards a shape that was more and more abstract. What happens to an image when we repeat it to the extreme? SLIT cuts of part of the building and repeats it endlessly, which creates and absurd representation of reality.

Website Marieke

Udo Prinsen -
Penrose Tiling

A work of art based on Penrose Tiling immediately reminded me of Escher. It inspired me and I started the experiment to find a dynamic form for this. My minute was created using reactive animation principles: elements of the design move to the beat of the music. Thanks to Stefan van Seggelen for the use of his 3D model.

Website Udo

Rien Esterik -
INSIDE OUT

Ever since Escher’s work entered ‘Het Paleis’ the building will never be perceived the same way. No longer is it just stone and wood and glass but its form is now a visual property waiting to be bent, twisted; looked upon through new eyes.

See a short story of ideas gathering power to enter ‘Het Paleis’ and – when inside – alter its form from the inside out. Leading to the inevitable conquering of stone and wood and glass by the power of perception. Enjoy!

Website Rien