Disembodied Head
Here are a few
photos of my latest project, the Disembodied Head.
I had decided to build this illusion after seeing
plans in the Paul Osborne book, Haunted Illusions. I liked the idea, but
could tell from the start that the plans were not going to be helpful, I
found the scale to be all wrong, and i knew that i could never find a woman to
fit into such a narrow chair. there were also problems with the depth of
the chair back not being as deep as the armrests were high, causes a bit of an
optical problem. I was able to address the problem somewhat, but it still
is not perfect. This depth problem caused the reflected bottom of the
chair to look too large compared to the actual chair back. This problem
would not have been so noticeable had I decided to upholster the chair in a
solid fabric, rather than the striped pattern. Oh well, live and
learn! There are plenty of little details to the construction of this
illusion that i feel were left out of the Osborne plans, and needed to be
figured out by actually building it. All in all i am
quite pleased with the completed project.
Side View:
notice how the rope comes up higher than the side of the chair, but swoops lower
in the center. I feel that this bit of graceful line helps to confuse the
eye away from the straight leading edge of the gimmick. It should also be
noted that the leading edge of the gimmick doesnt have to be straight at all, it
could have the curved edge cut into it. So long as the angle is proper,
the gimmick can be any shape that you like.
Front
View: The Illusion is designed to be viewed with the audiences eye level
with the rope, or lower.
Here is a photo of the Lovely Leah jammed into the back of the chair...
II am planning on completing a set of drawings for this chair if there is
enough interest, that will include scale drawings, and all sorts of construction
tips to help make this a more accessible project for beginning
builders. The plans will also include information on basic
construction, color choice, and finishing to help sell the illusion and
fool the eye.
