Relativity lattice 1953

M.C. Escher's 'Relativity Lattice' is an architectural head trip, a lithograph print full of impossible staircases, doorways, and figures defying gravity, made sometime in the mid twentieth century. It's a study in black and white, using lines to create depth and shadow where the hand of the artist feels present, like a meditation. Check out the tiny human figures navigating this space, they look a little lost. Each one seems to exist in their own gravitational field, completely unaware of the others. It’s like a visual metaphor for different perspectives or realities all coexisting. The texture of the stone walls, built with such detail, gives it a real sense of place and depth, yet, it is a place that cannot exist. Escher’s spatial tricks, like the Dutch artist Piranesi, make you question what is up and what is down, they open up the possibility of multiple interpretations and invite us to reconsider our assumptions about the world.