Waterfall by M.C. Escher
The art of M. C. Escher is, in a word, interesting. The word “interesting” is often a euphemism, especially in art, for “weird and I don’t like it.” Not in this case though. It creates interest. It naturally generates interest in what is going on within the piece. I have yet to see someone not react to it.
On Wednesdays we warm up with “I Wonder.” As students walk in they grab a whiteboard and look at the screen to see an image or looping video. Their job: Write in two columns what they notice and what they wonder.
For the Waterfall image, they noticed these things:
- black and white
- drawing, not a photograph
- there’s a waterfall
- there are two weird shapes on top of the columns
- there are steps in the background
- weird plants that should be underwater
- stairs
- someone doing laundry
- the water is going the wrong way / optical illusion
Of course the last one is where I’m hoping they’ll go. Here’s what they wondered:
- why is the water going the wrong way?
- are those weird shapes actually puzzles for a giant?
- who lives in the house on the left?
- is this on another planet?
- could you actually build this in real life?
They have about 3 minutes to write quietly, then we gather all their observations on the board. After some great discussions about paradoxes and optical illusions I reveal what this is and introduce them to the artist M. C. Escher (not a rapper).
If someone were to ask, “This isn’t math! Why are you doing this?”, how would you respond?