Science & Tech

This Swimming Turtle Is Really a Model in Body Paint

by Michael Walsh
Oct 15 2018 • 5:20 PM

We never get tired of being amazed by optical illusions. Whether they are silly and fun, genuinely breathtaking, or so completely maddening they threaten to tear apart society, they are always fascinating. Our favorites are the ones that are so incredible they truly blow our minds, like the brain stupefying Ames Window illusion that nearly ruined us. Those types of visual mirages are hard to process even after we know what we’re looking at and how they work. However, they don’t normally involve transforming a real human into an indistinguishable recreation of an animal, like in this incredible video of a “sea turtle” swimming, which will definitely melt your brain.

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Did you gasp when she started stretching out her limbs? SAME. We knew this was an illusion going into it, and we still could only see a turtle until she broke her pose. In fact, when we go back and watch it again we struggle to see her, especially if we look at the “turtle’s” eye.This video (that we came across at Geekologie) is the work of artist Johannes Stöetter. It took more than just a world-class paint job to pull it off; it wouldn’t work without model Sara Costabiei’s perfect positioning.Now that we know what’s going on, we’re sure no other videos of Stöetter’s can truly blow our minds. Let’s just check our theory…
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OH WE DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!Two people means our brains are both blown and melted.What’s your favorite optical illusion? What about the coolest body painting you’ve ever seen? Share it with us in the comments section below.

Featured Image: Johannes Stötter