Visual Rhetoric and Argument [Sketches by M.C. Escher]

Escher - Drawing Hands, 1948

Let’s explore the work of M.C. Escher (Dutch Artist, 1898-1972). When you look at this drawing (above) “Drawing Hands”, from 1948, you see two hands, but what are they doing? Explore it carefully. You see they are more-or-less drawing, but what? They happen to be drawing each hand ‘into existence’, which makes the hand images rise above the flattened cuff, and off the page to create the paradox. This was Escher’s trademark, of sorts, and it creates ambiguity of the mind, thus creating a visual argument. I guess it could have text, but I think that would merely complicate the design, so, let’s argue about it.

I have rather an obsession with tessellations; probably why I like Escher’s work so much. They occur about everywhere from flooring to nature, architecture, and more. They are regular and obtuse, polygons and circles, but have some symmetry. Look at the piece below and tell me what you see. Heads, alright, but how many, and what gender? Does it matter? What are they heads of? Who? You can see so much, but you have to wonder what it’s saying to you. The negative space reveals something embedded below, but how is that significant?  Man, I love this stuff!

Escher - Eight Heads, 1922

Look at the next one. Look closely to see what the water is doing. What are the people in this sketch doing? Where are they? What is their meaning? The artist had the intention of putting them in there for you (or himself) but to create illusion, a kind of billboard of conveyance. What does it say?

Escher - Waterfall, 1961

WHAT SHARON THINKS IS… I believe these sketches all to be excellent examples of what Visual Rhetoric is about. It is the underlying message in what is presented, in whatever form it is given.