| If you think that ambiguous
pictures such as the VASE/FACE picture are fun,
then ambigrams are for you. Ambigrams and pictures such as these are much
more than meets the eye at first glance. Figuring out what kind of double-meaning
has been built into one of them always leaves the observer with a sense
of achievement, discovery, wonder, and joy.
Although ambigrams have been around for at least 100 years, not many people seem to be aware of their existence. EYE TWISTERS is an attempt at systematically exploring the world of ambigrams and its connections with other worlds of ambiguity. Ambiguous pictures
The title page will be based on the following design.
Note that the word "twisters" can be read repeatedly by going around the ring in both the clockwise and the anti-clockwise directions. In the first case the bottom of the word is the inside of the ring, in the second case the outside. The picture in the middle of the cover is M.C. Escher's "Eye" (c) 1999 Cordon Art B.V. - Baarn - The Netherlands. All rights reserved. The title of the book is supposed to remind you of the expression TONGUE TWISTER.
The chapter Inevitable Introduction, contains descriptions and first examples of many different types of ambigrams, and a brief history of ambigrams. The chapter Designing Designatures contains instructions on how to create your own ambigrams using pen, paper and computer drawing packages such as Adobe Illustrator. In the remaining chapters we explore how ambigrams can be used to enhance related ambiguous objects, illusions and letterplay. These chapters are made up almost exclusively of new ambigrams. In Escher Enhanced we enhance some of Escheršs most famous drawings by ambigrams. In most cases these ambigrams are ambigrams of the titles of the respective Escher drawings and the construction principle underlying the accompanying ambigram has something to do with the construction principle on which the drawing is based. In Foreign Fonts we play with ambigrams of Chinese, German, Japanese, Spanish and Russian words. Here you will find, among other things, English words that transform into their Chinese counterparts and sentences that read correctly in both English and Russian. In Shape Shifters we enhance some of the most famous ambiguous pictures by ambigrammatic captions that imitate the ambiguities built into the pictures. Mirror Magic is a collection of useful ambigrams that, when transferred onto a glass door, can be read as meaningful words from both sides of the door. An example is a word that reads as Push from one side of the door and Pull from the other. The Notorious Neighbours of ambigrams are palindromes, anagrams and magic squares. In this chapter we ambigram some examples of these lettergames such as the famous magic square made up of the Latin words sator, arepo, tenet, opera, and rotas. Circular Circles is a collection of self-referential ambi-grams, that is, ambigrams of words whose meaning has something to do with the way the words have been ambigrammed. Unmotivated Undertakings consists of some of my other favourite ambigrams that do not fit in any of the other categories. Mathematical Mumblings reflects the fact that it is mostly people interested in mathematics who get seriously obsessed with ambigrams. For all of you who, just like me, have a mathematical background, this chapter contains ambigrammed names of some famous mathematicians. In addition, we also finally manage to square the circle. Numerous Names contains many ambigrams of personal names. In fact, at least two ambigrams for every letter in the alphabet?one female and one male. Rare References contains brief descriptions of a number of important ambigram-related books and websites.
Everybody I know is familiar with at least two or three ambiguous pictures,
that is, pictures that can be looked at in two different ways. Some of
the most famous such pictures have been included in the book, again enhanced
in a meaningful way by ambigrams. One example of such a picture is FACE/VASE;
if you concentrate on the black part of the picture, you see two faces
in profile, if you concentrate on the white part of the picture, you see
a vase. Notice that you can also read the caption in two different ways;
either as FACE, or as VASE.
Anagrams and palindromes are closely related to ambigrams. Included
in the book are a number of ambigrams of famous and not so famous palindromes
and anagrams. For example, GLENELG is the name of a suburb of the city
I live in. The word itself is a palindrome. The following ambigram is a
mirror image of itself.
Have a look at the following ambigram. Note that the word FRONT is written
such that its mirror image is that word BACK. This means that if you transfer
this word onto a glass door it will read as FRONT from one side and as
BACK from the other side.
Here is an animated example of one of them; an ambigram of the word
ambigram (for very similar AMBIGRAM ambigrams see Punya
Mishra's homepage or Douglas Hofstadters book Ambigrammi).
The book contains a number of ambigrams that play with words in foreign
languages such as French, Spanish, German, Japanese, and Chinese.
The following Chinese/English ambigram is by David Moser, a sinologist
working in China. Any Chinese person will immediately recognize the Chinese
character for SEA. To translate this character into English, turn it 90
degrees in the anti-clockwise direction.
Also included in the book are some of the best ambigrams by other ambigrammists
such as Douglas Hofstadter, Scott Kim and John Langdon. Have a look at
this one by Paul Agule, a New York based graphic artist. The word LIAR
written in a way such that it also looks like a face (somebody who has
got LIAR written all over his face!).
Many of the ambigrams are interesting from a purely aestetic point of
view. Here is one that many people like very much. Also contained in the
book are ambigrams of the remaining three elements WATER, EARTH, and AIR.
As a mathematician I am fascinated by beauty based on symmetries. I
find that the beauty of ambigrams is closely related to the beauty of my
favorite mathematical structures. Included in the book are a number
of ambigrams of famous mathematicians' and computer scientists' names.
Here is an ambigram of Douglas Hofstadter's name. It reads DR HOFSTADTER.
Hofstadter, a famous computer scientist and author of the book Godel, Escher,
Bach, is one of the pioneers of the art of ambigrams. Incidently Hofstadter's
initials D and R combine into one of his asademic titles.
What is `geometry'? A look at this ambigram will give you two important
clues to the answer of this question. It has to do with beauty and
symmetry.
A very special equation. Both the equation and its mirror image
are correct~.
And here is a very special way to do the mathematically impossible:
square the circle!
Lots of them. Everybody seems to love them. Here is another example;
an ambigram of the name ROGER.
Anu is the name of my partner. Here is ANU written using reflected and
rotated images of one character only.
As part of a short history of ambigrams Eye Twisters also contains a
number of reproductions of early ambigrams such as the following
VISTA ambigrams. VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service To America (aka
Americorps*Vista). This ambigram is the old logo of this large American
volunteer organization.
Other Ambigram Books and Resources So far, three books have been written on ambigrams. Inversions by Scott Kim, W. H. Freeman & Company, 1989. Wordplay: Ambigrams and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams by John Langdon, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. Ambigrammi by Douglas R. Hofstadter, Hopefulmonster Editore Firenze, 1987 Further useful information and examples of ambigrams can be found on various homepages. In particular, see John Langdon's homepage, Scott Kim's homepage and the links to various ambigrammists pages in Scott Kim's "Inversions" subdirectory. For further information about me, please check out my homepage.
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