The Obscura convex mirror uses a round frame that I designed and had made in San Miguel d’Allende. I gilded parts of it and studded it with a series of clear mirrored cabochons. It reminds me of some sort of peculiar early renaissance Flemish scientific device.
The frame is 9.5 inches in diameter and is currently in my studio pending being sent to one of my showrooms.
The cabochons and /or lenses used in this mirror design refer to the Hoockney-Falco thesis. This thesis states that truly realistic drawings and paintings did not start until about 1430. At that time artists started using optic devices such as concave mirrors, lenses and camera obscuras to aid in depicting true images on canvas.
The theory is based on The Book of Optics by the Arab scholar Ibn al-Haytham( 965-1040). The foundation of his theories is that vision is possible by light entering the eye. This counters Euclid’s theory of extramission( where vision is caused by light emitting from the eyes). Ibn al-Haytham’s influence revolutionized optics in the European renaissance.
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