Optical illusion leaves Eiffel Tower teetering over ravine

Thursday, 20 May 2021 20:38

By Reuters

An art installation has created the optical illusion that the French capital's Eiffel Tower is perched precariously over a rocky ravine.

The artwork, by an artist who uses the pseudonym JR, involved laying an image of a ravine, and the pillars that form the base of the Eiffel Tower, onto the floor of an esplanade that overlooks the tower.

When a visitor stands in the right spot, the artwork in the foreground and the tower in the background line up with each other, and the illusion is created.

"I think it's really cool because it's really realistic," said one visitor, Lara Watson.

"I like that it combines with the Eiffel Tower, so the piece of art becomes a piece of art because of the Eiffel Tower already behind it."

Other work by the same artist includes an installation at the US-Mexico border wall that appears to show a giant baby peering over the wall, and an optical illusion that made it appear a chasm had opened up in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris.

More from Quirky

Emirates passengers consume 64 million pieces of chocolate in one year

Emirates Airlines revealed on Monday that its passengers consumed more than 64 million pieces of chocolate in one year, an increase of 4 million pieces of chocolate, or 6.6 per cent.
Atlas, the humanoid robot, delivers match ball at World Cup

The World Cup has seen superstars, pitch invaders, heartbreak and joy across its 96 years — and, on Sunday, it got a robot.
Eating champion Chestnut defends title but blames heat for lower tally

Champion eater Joey Chestnut successfully defended his title on Saturday despite consuming fewer hot dogs than a year earlier.
'Vanishingly rare' copy of US Declaration of Independence unearthed in UK archives

A "vanishingly rare" copy of the Declaration of Independence has been found in London, dug up in archives holding documents from the British capture of an American privateer ship in 1776, just as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Relocating 6 million Singapore bees and counting, one nest at a time

Armed with nothing but a bandana and his bare hands, 42-year-old Clarence Chua rescues bees, scooping them from nests into wooden boxes to relocate them, sometimes to his own backyard.