Thus, in the midst of life, abstract painting -- a big improvement for Ms. Root and, for us, a pleasant profusion of hard-edged, sweet-toned optical surprise.
Compulsively repeated form, like a neurotic fixation, coexists with the serendipity of changing light; the puritanical prohibition against touch is balanced by a sensual embrace of optical surprise; razor-sharp edges, which disincline you to touch the boxes in the first place, dissolve visually in waves of soft sun.
With a full complement of marauding elephants, deformed dwarves, ninja-style warriors, and human guillotines sporting razor-sharp lobster claws that hang from where their arms should be, 300 is loaded with terrific optical surprises.
Each of the impact sites appeared dark in ordinary optical images--a surprise in view of predictions that frozen water and ammonia, which were thought to be predominant components of comets, would show as white plumes above the impact sites as material splashed back into the upper atmosphere and cooled.
The variety of the works and the range of materials, with each producing a different thud, mean that each piece projects its own particular optical delicacies and aural surprises.
You add all that up, and it's no surprise that the optical pipes are starting to fill up.
Agilent Technologies, a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard, surprised a major optical products trade show in Baltimore in March with a new system capable of switching wavelengths of light from one fiber to another by bouncing them off bubbles in a grid of liquid.
Museum for Children, Halifax, West Yorkshire Search for Santa in an indoor maze with surprises at every turn, from optical illusions using mirrors, to real snow, at this glass-fronted museum.
The news is somewhat a surprise, considering Microsoft would never support another optical format.
With such familiarity comes a sense of dependability and for most of us only "seeing is believing"; thus, the surprise and fascination when we look at optical illusions.
Surprise and awe was exactly my reaction when Optical Allusions by Jay Hosler showed up in my mailbox, because the book displays not only Hosler's talent for teaching science but also for producing art.
