| This image by the Surrealist painter Magritte warns against the illusory nature of images. This is not a pipe, but a picture of a pipe. This is not a pipe, but a picture telling us that it is not representing a pipe. This is not a pipe, but a trompe l'oeil, masquerading as what we recognize to be a pipe. At the same time, it is a very compelling rendition of the way the eye and the mind construe the appearance of a pipe. The images below straddle this fine boundary between image as adage and image as reality either through their content or representational technique or both. |
