Judah’s Limerick
An inquisitive sexagenarian
suspected to be an intrepid Italian
wanted very much to know
if it was really Limbo
Down he went but won no medallion !
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The Funniest News Stories That 2018 Produced
By Bernadette Deron Published December 24, 2018 Updated March 21, 2019
A Man Fell Into An Art Installation Called Descent Into Limbo
Descent Into Limbo
Art can sometimes play tricks on the mind thanks to optical illusions, although rarely does this kind of art put anyone in real danger.
But one art installation did, as a man visiting the Fundação de Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal on Aug. 13 accidentally fell into the work of famed artist Anish Kapoor titled Descent Into Limbo — which features a hole in the ground made to look like a mere spot on the floor.
The visitor — reportedly an Italian man in his 60s — allegedly wanted to see if the void was indeed just that and subsequently fell about eight feet to the bottom of the installation. To the illusion’s credit, there were multiple caution signs set up around the piece as well as a guard tasked with keeping visitors away from the hole.
Although the man did have to be hospitalized after the fall, a spokesperson for the museum told Artnet News that “The visitor has already left the hospital and he is recovering well.”
Kapoor began making “void” pieces in 1985, and so the success of Descent Into Limbo‘s trickery is of no surprise. First created back in 1992, the work is meant to trick the eye into thinking that what you’re seeing is a flat 2-D painting of a circle when it is, in fact, an actual hole.
The impressive illusion is made possible by Kapoor’s use of Vantablack — the blackest material in existence. Kapoor won the exclusive rights to this, the world’s darkest material, in 2016.
By using Vantablack for Descent Into Limbo, Kapoor was able to completely eliminate any visible depth in the piece. No curves nor contours are visible — all the eye sees is nothingness.
And in the case of the man who fell in, Kapoor’s use of Vantablack perhaps works a little too well. This likely won’t be the last we hear of Vantablack in regards to the upcoming year’s funny news.
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