On the Threshold of a Dream

I've always been fascinated by the nature of our perception and awareness. Interestingly, the scientific study of how our brains function is not that old, but a few artists have used the findings in this field to inform their art. Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, for example, created some visually surreal works with impossible geometries by combining mathematics, psychology, and art. One of his most famous examples is Ascending and Descending (1960).

One of the principles included in Escher's impossible looping staircases is the idea of the Penrose triangle. This refers to a "three-dimensional" triangle whose edges connect at right angles, and while they make perfect sense individually, together they form an impossible geometrical object that tests the limits of how we process, analyze, and perceive objects in space.

I was exploring the idea of the Penrose triangle itself, as I posted in this snap, and then decided to investigate if I could apply this concept to an AI-generated watercolour landscape.

MC Escher has already done staircases, so I decided to focus on something at a larger scale. I described to the AI what I wanted to do, knowing just how tricky it would be to apply this visual illusion to a wider scale landscape because it required reasoning about perception, town planning, art, design, and so on. I asked it to create it in isometric view to make the spatial metaphor easier to work with.

I think I will name this town Hotel California. This was actually the second image generated by the AI. I had to edit the first one (shown below) because the AI put a tunnel on the third segment, thus breaking the illusion. So, I prompted it to get rid of the tunnel and extend the road in order to complete the Penrose triangle effect.

First iteration

Thank you for checking it out.