Spatial Themes

Perspective connects with a wide range of subjects concerned with space, vision, geometry, light, illusion, representation and spatial experience.

The subjects collected here show how perspective extends beyond individual drawing systems into broader questions about how spatial reality is structured, seen, analysed and represented.

Use the sections below to explore these related themes.


Explore the relationships between perspective drawing, mathematical construction and the geometrical analysis of space.

Explore Drawing and Mathematics →


Explore changing forms and understandings of the eye and vision in relation to spatial perception and representation.

Explore Eyes in Evolution →


Explore fractal structures and their relationships with geometry, scale, spatial organisation and visual form.

Explore Fractals →


Geometry provides many of the mathematical foundations through which spatial relationships, projection and perspective can be analysed.

Explore:

Analytical Geometry
Conic Sections
Descriptive Geometry
Fourth Dimension / Non-Euclidean Geometry
Projective Geometry
Proportion
Quadrature
Synthetic Geometry

These were the eight subjects grouped beneath Geometry in the former Applications structure. 


Explore perspective across different historical periods and cultures:

17th–19th Centuries
Byzantium
China
Egypt
Greece / Rome
India
Japan
Modern Era
Renaissance


Perspective has long been used to alter, manipulate or extend visual and spatial appearance.

Explore:

Anamorphosis / Aberrations
Chiaroscuro
Holograms
Mirrors
Rainbows
Trompe l’oeil
Quadratura


Explore the relationship between perspective, spatial conception, imagination and constructed visual worlds.

Explore Imagination →


Explore subjects concerned with the relationship between physical reality, visual appearance and spatial perception:

Eye / Vision
Light / Colour
Shades and Shadows
Space
Stereography / Stereoscopy