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  Impossible Objects
AhaPictures of objects you can't make.
Real impossible triangle - Mathieu HamaekersRating

Real impossible triangle A real picture of an impossible triangle. How did he do that ? Click on the picture and see how it looks from another angle.
Number of ratings : 214.
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Wooden triangle - Rating

Wooden triangle A photograph of someone holding an impossible construction of triangles. Note how smart this picture is made : the big, impossible triangle is made from smaller triangles which in turn are impossible. There obviously are holes in the model but in this case they are hard to imagine.
Number of ratings : 35.
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Gameboard - Rating

Gameboard Twisted gameboard in the same fashion as Del-Pretes chessboard.
Original : Impossible Chess Set
Related : The Terrace
Number of ratings : 27.
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Italian Restaurant Illusion - Gianni A. SarconeRating

Italian Restaurant Illusion Find the five errors.
Number of ratings : 24.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1995
Open Cube - Rating

Open Cube
Number of ratings : 20.
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- Oscar ReutersvärdRating

reutersvard_connect.jpg
Number of ratings : 19.
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Cube in blue - Monika BuchRating

Cube in blue Very nice variation on the impossible cube, especially the way how two cubes are in the middle of two sides.
Number of ratings : 19.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1976
Impossible Chess Set, Das gekrümmte Schachbrett - Sandro Del-PreteRating

Impossible Chess Set
Derived : The Terrace :: Gameboard
Number of ratings : 17.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1975 :: Poster Poster
A slightly difficult interlocking wood puzzle - Mitsumasa AnnoRating

A slightly difficult interlocking wood puzzle
Number of ratings : 17.
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Impossible triangle mirrored - Bruno ErnstRating

Impossible triangle mirrored A real picture taken of an impossible triangle. You can see in the mirror how this is done.
Original : Impossible triangle explanation
Number of ratings : 16.
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Opus, Opus - Oscar ReutersvärdRating

Opus Reutersvärd invented this shape by accident while working on the star in the center.
Number of ratings : 15.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1934
Wooden box - Rating

Wooden box A woman is looking at an impossible wooden box with a puzzled expression on her face.
Number of ratings : 14.
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The quadrature of the wheel, Das unmögliche Rad - Sandro Del-PreteRating

The quadrature of the wheel At first glance it seems that this man has made a very solid construction. I doubt, however, that you can make the same in your hobby room.
Derived : Quad Wheel
Number of ratings : 7.
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Impossible bed, Apolinère enameled - Marcel DuchampRating

Impossible bed This was a commercial for Sapolin, a paint brand. Duchamp changed the title for this friend Apollinaire and he made the bed look impossible. The bed is a separate tin plate attached to cardboard.
Number of ratings : 12.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1916
Impossible wheel - Rating

Impossible wheel
Number of ratings : 11.
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Impossible cube construction - Rating

Impossible cube construction A worker is constructing an impossible cube.
Original : Impossible cube drawing
Related : Impossible cube
Number of ratings : 11.
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The impossible triangle - Oscar ReutersvärdRating

The impossible triangle The one and only impossible triangle ; this shape was the inspiration for an innumerable amount of impossible artworks ; including those made by Escher.
Derived : Impossible triangle explanation
Number of ratings : 9.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1934
Bird cage - Jos de MeyRating

Bird cage Impossible birdcage.
Number of ratings : 9.
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Impossible cube - Rating

Impossible cube A photograph of an impossible cube. All pictures taken of an impossible object have one thing in common : it only "works" from ONE point of view, called "the Ames transformation". When you take a picture from another point of view the object would look strange and twisted, but not impossible.
Original : Impossible cube drawing
Related : Impossible cube construction
Number of ratings : 9.
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Three candles - Sandro Del-PreteRating

Three candles How many candles are there ?
Original : The impossible fork
Related : Roman columnThe columnsL'Egs-istential Quandaryfork.jpgColumnsDinosaur
Number of ratings : 8.
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Impossible Nature Morte - Gianni A. SarconeRating

Impossible Nature Morte Three impossible things : two books become three books, the vase is in front of the green jar but behind the books, and the red pot has a strange bottom.
Number of ratings : 8.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1998
Impossible Square - Rating

Impossible Square
Number of ratings : 8.
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Impossible cube drawing - Rating

Impossible cube drawing A drawing of an impossible cube.
Derived : Impossible cube :: Impossible cube construction
Number of ratings : 7.
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Shelf - Frans ErensRating

Shelf The shelf is okay. The support is okay. But the combination of the two is not possible.
Number of ratings : 7.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1985
The impossible fork - Rating

The impossible fork This is a drawing of an impossible fork. It's a very basic form of impossible images. Also known as "Schuster's conundrum" or the "Devil's fork". Typical for this kind of impossible image is that you can’t color it.
Derived : Roman column :: Three candles :: The columns :: L'Egs-istential Quandary :: fork.jpg :: Columns :: Dinosaur
Number of ratings : 7.
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Quad Wheel - Sandro Del-PreteRating

Quad Wheel This is a simplified version of the "wheel" in the orginal drawing.
Original : The quadrature of the wheel
Number of ratings : 6.
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The impossible christmas tree, De onmogelijke kerstboom - Jos de MeyRating

The impossible christmas tree
Number of ratings : 6.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1987
Impossible triangle explanation - Oscar ReutersvärdRating

Impossible triangle explanation For those of you who do not understand why the impossible triangle IS impossible : here is a drawing of how the construction would look with two of the three connections made. You can see that the third connection is not possible.
Original : The impossible triangle
Derived : Impossible triangle mirrored
Number of ratings : 5.
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Impossible pencils - Serhiy GrabarchukRating

Impossible pencils Are there two pencils . . . Or three ?
Number of ratings : 25.
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Section of a cube - Mitsumasa AnnoRating

Section of a cube
Number of ratings : 13.
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Truncated Tetrahedron - Rating

Truncated Tetrahedron It may be hard to see why the figure is impossible ; it will be more understandable when you look at the second picture where you can see where the sides would end.
Number of ratings : 11.
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Animated impossible cube - Rating

Animated impossible cube That's right ! An animated impossible cube. If you thought the cube itself was bad enough, you won't get over this one !
Number of ratings : 11.
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Block, Blok - Dirk HuizerRating

Block
Number of ratings : 9.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1984
Improbable screws and washers - Gianni A. SarconeRating

Improbable screws and washers
Number of ratings : 8.
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Telescope - Govert SchillingRating

Telescope A telescope. An impossible one. Or it wouldn't have been on this page, of course.
Number of ratings : 8.
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Nested Squares - Bruno ErnstRating

Nested Squares
Number of ratings : 8.
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Racketholder for an outdated player, Racketholder for an outdated player - Jos de MeyRating

Racketholder for an outdated player
Number of ratings : 6.
Rate Rate :: Year : 1987
Thiéry's figure - Rating

Thiéry's figure These cubes share a common side.
Number of ratings : 5.
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  Recommended reading
Walter Wick's Optical TricksWalter Wick's Optical Tricks
The author has done an incredible job by creating amazing illusions with photographs.
The magic mirror of M.C. EscherThe magic mirror of M.C. Escher
If you are interested in Escher, this is the book for you. The author made it together with Escher himself. It shows the periods and styles in his life, and shows his thoughts when making his famous images. Which contained surprisingly little maths.
 
  Links
Impossible WorldGreat site about impossible objects.
Animating Impossible ObjectsVery in-depth explanation about how you can animate an impossible object.
© 2003 Stefan Van den Bergh. All rights reserved. All artwork remains copyright of their respective owners.
All M.C. Escher works © 2003 Cordon Art - Baarn - Holland. All rights reserved. Used by permission.