Master of Illusion explores the use of linear perspective throughout history as well as it's more modern uses. Linear perspective gives a piece the illusion of depth. This technique employs the use of a single focal point, the point where the lines of the artwork meet, to give dimension to the piece. Simple as it may seem, linear perspective wasn't utilized in art until the Renaissance. Though some earlier artists came close to creating depth within a canvas, the Renaissance masters were the only ones who were actually able to do so. It seems like such a basic notion in the process of creating art today that it seems almost impossible to imagine how artists would create such expressive works without it.
Ways of Seeing talks extensively about the effect that photography has had on the more traditional mediums of art. Does the fact that photography gives us the ability to duplicate images take away from the worth of an authentic work of art or does it add to the experience of viewing in first hand. To most it would deem the act of viewing an original piece unimportant and a waste of time. You don't have to travel to view a masterpiece, you can simply look at a photograph of the image. But to those who are greatly excited by art it would possibly make the act of viewing and original something incredibly enthralling. The emotional response to a work can not be gathered from a photo-copy of art. Such an experience is reserved for those who make to journey to view the work in person.
