Escher Interactive
Sold Out		(Win95/98/3.1) (Retail) (ESCHERPR)

Abrams

Reference/Art

Ratings:

86 from Family PC

Explore the Infinite Worlds of Artist M. C. Escher

Escher's famous prints, with their intriguing mixture of art, fantasy, and mathematics, are among the most memorable images of our time. Escher Interactive uses animation, video, interactivity, and spoken commentary to create a completely new multimedia art experience. With this CD-ROM, you can see, think, and design like M. C. Escher.

See Escher at work in the audio-visual story of his life.

Visit a gallery of more than 600 original Escher works.

Watch Escher's art move through space in beautiful animations.

Learn about distortion by viewing Escher's art through a spherical lens.

Search for Escher designs within the deceptive patterns of magic images.

Transform Escher images in your own morphing program.

Play the perspective game and gain a deeper understanding of illusion.

Solve brain-teasing puzzles of "impossible" three-dimensional figures.

Design and print your own Escher-inspired designs using a complete pattern-drawing program that places the artisit's own powerful techniques at your fingertips.

Requirements:

PC with 486SX/66MHz or higher processor, 8MB RAM, SVGA graphics (256 colors with 640x480 resolution), double-speed CD-ROM drive or faster, MPC-compatible, mouse or compatible pointing device, Windows 3.1 or later (Windows 95 compatible).

Reviews:

Family PC, July/August 1996

"When Dutch artist M. C. Escher's prints were featured in Time and Life magazines in the early 1950s, he instantly became one of the most readily identifiable artists of all time. His finely drawn, interlocking patterns (called tessellations), which challenge conventional ideas of spatial relationships, became popular art, resurfacing as posters, calendars, and stereographs. The amazing thing is that the elegant visual representations of mathematical principals that he did by hand are so easily manipulated by computers today - and that is where the genius of this program lies.

"Escher Interactive has a beautifully understated design with an elegant gray interface that meshes perfectly with the artwork. Unfortunately, there is no text base to this program (a glossary of terms, concepts and people would be helpful) and, due to copyright restrictions, printing options are limited to the tessellations you create yourself."

PC Gamer, December 1996

"If you know the artwork of M.C. Escher, you're probably intrigued already. If you don't, you'll likely find the man and his work to be fascinating. The Dutch-born Escher, who came to fame in the U.S. in the early 1950s when his art was featured in Time and Life magazines, had a unique viewpoint based on interlocking forms. This translated into unusual symmetries and multiple perspectives in his creations.

"Escher Interactive covers the man, his art (including a gallery of more than 600 images), and several interactive puzzles. While the study of Escher himself is interesting, it's the puzzles and visual treats on this disc that illustrate his viewpoint.

"The most complex activity is the Tesselation Workshop (a tesselation is a Mosaic-like pattern). You use drawing tools, stamps, pattern models, and various color combinations to form your own art in the style of Escher. It's tricky, and instructions are sparse, so you need to experiment. The results, however, can be rewarding. Finished images can be saved, printed out, or, once converted to a bitmap image, used for T-shirt transfers.

"The maddening Convex & Concave puzzle tests your sense of spatial relationships as you try to figure out which direction stairs are leading, which way doors will swing open, and which direction a ball will roll as you place it on a plane. Animated Escher lets you study the artist's works as they animate and transform. Magic Images creates stereograms of six Escher works (only for those of you who can make those 3D 'Magic Eye' images work). The most bedeviling of the lot, though, is Impossible Puzzles. Here you reconstruct simple Escheresque figures broken into three-dimensional pieces. The only way to solve these is to think like Escher. Impossible Puzzles is aptly named, as it demonstrates the man's unique sense of spatial perception."

Computer Shopper, October 1996

"Escher Interactive, a Windows-based CD-ROM from Byron Preiss Multimedia, uses a dual approach to introducing users to the man and his craft. On the serious side, the disc examines Escher's life and work, including a gallery of more than 600 images of his fascinating prints. On the lighter side, the disc offers a variety of games, puzzles, and activities that playfully illustrate Escher's unique perspectives."

"Escher Interactive serves two audiences. those who know his work will appreciate having the digital gallery and playing with Escheresque models. Those unfamiliar with the man or his work, meanwhile, will discover one of the most progressive and engaging artists of our century."

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