M. C. Escher: Relativita

M. C. Escher: Relativity (1953)
M. C. Escher: Relativity (1953)

Relativita je slavná litografie (kamenotisk) nizozemského umělce M. C. Eschera, která byla poprvé vytištěna v prosinci 1953.

Zobrazuje paradoxní svět, ve kterém neplatí normální zákony gravitace. Vyobrazená architektonická struktura se zdá být centrem idylické komunity, kde se většina obyvatel věnuje svým obvyklým činnostem, například stolovaní či procházce v parku. Struktura má mnoho oken a průchodů, které vedou k venkovním scenériím, připomínajícím parky. Všechny postavy mají totožný oděv a hlavy bez jakýchkoli rysů; takovéto figury můžeme najít i v mnoha jiných Escherových dílech.

Ve světě Relativity jsou ve skutečnosti tři zdroje gravitace, každý kolmý na oba zbývající. Jednotliví obyvatelé žijí vždy jen v jednom gravitačním poli, kde pro ně fyzikální zákony normálně platí; šestnáct vyobrazených postav je mezi ně rovnoměrně rozděleno. Zřejmé zmatení z litografie pak pramení ze skutečnosti, že všechny tři zdroje gravitace jsou zobrazeny ve stejném prostoru.

Struktura má několik schodišť, kdy každé z nich může být používáno osobami, náležejícími ke dvěma různým gravitačním polím. Toto vytváří zajímavé jevy, jako například na horním schodišti, kde dva obyvatelé jdou po stejném schodišti ve stejném směru a na stejné straně, ale každý využívá jinou stranu každého schodu – takže jeden jde po schodišti dolů a druhý nahoru, přestože se pohybují ve stejném směru a skoro bok po boku. Na dalších schodištích jsou obyvatelé zobrazeni tak, že se zdá, jako by chodili hlavou dolů, ale vzhledem k jejich zdroji gravitace jdou zcela normálně.

Toto dílo je z Escherových prací pravděpodobně nejznámější a bylo využito nejrůznějšími způsoby, přičemž bylo interpretováno jak umělecky, tak i vědecky. Problémy perspektivy a zobrazení trojrozměrných pohledů ve dvojrozměrných obrazech tvoří jádro Escherových prací a Relativita představuje jeden z jeho největších úspěchů v tomto okruhu.


Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American musical adventure fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, executive produced by George Lucas, and based upon conceptual designs by Brian Froud. The film stars David Bowie as Jareth and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah. The plot revolves around 15-year-old Sarah’s quest to reach the center of an enormous otherworldly maze to rescue her infant brother Toby, who has been kidnapped by Jareth, the Goblin King. With the exception of Bowie and Connelly, most of the significant characters in the film are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Williams (Connelly) rehearses a play in the park and becomes distracted by a line she is unable to remember while being watched by a barn owl. Realizing she is late to babysit her infant half-brother Toby, she rushes home and is confronted by her stepmother (Shelley Thompson) before she and her father (Christopher Malcolm) leave for dinner. Sarah realizes that her brother is in possession of her treasured teddy bear Lancelot. Frustrated by this and his constant crying, Sarah inadvertently wishes Toby away by the Goblin King Jareth (Bowie). He refuses to return the baby, but gives Sarah 13 hours to solve his Labyrinth to find him before Toby is turned into a goblin. Sarah meets the dwarvish Hoggle (Brian Henson), who aids her in entering the Labyrinth, but a talking worm (Timothy Bateson) inadvertently sends her the wrong way.

After failing to solve a riddle, Sarah ends up in an oubliette where she reunites with Hoggle. After they confront Jareth and escape one of his traps, the two encounter a large beast named Ludo (Ron Mueck). Hoggle flees while Sarah befriends Ludo. After another riddle, she loses him in a forest. Hoggle encounters Jareth, who gives him a peach and instructs him to give it to Sarah, calling his loyalty into question as he was supposed to lead her out of the maze. Sarah is assaulted by a group of creatures with detachable body parts who try to remove her head, but Hoggle rescues her. She kisses him and Jareth magically sends them to the Bog of Eternal Stench as punishment where they reunite with Ludo. Sarah, Hoggle, and Ludo meet the guard of a bridge out of the swamp named Sir Didymus (David Shaughnessy), an anthropomorphic fox and his Old English Sheepdog steed named Ambrosious (Percy Edwards). After Ludo saves Sarah from falling into the swamp, Didymus joins the group. After the group gets hungry, Hoggle gives Sarah the peach and runs away as it begins to erase her memories. She has a hallucination where Jareth comes to her, proclaiming his love for her, but she resists and escapes, falling into a junk yard. After an old hag called the Junk Lady (Denise Bryer) fails to brainwash her and her memory is jogged, she is rescued by the others and they are right outside the Goblin City where Jareth’s castle is. As they are confronted by the guard at the gate, Hoggle comes to the rescue. Despite his feeling unworthy of forgiveness, Sarah and the others welcome him back and they enter the city together.

Jareth is alerted to their presence and sends his goblin army to stop them, but Ludo’s powers to summon rocks helps to turn the tide of the comical battle and they enter the castle. Sarah insists she must face Jareth alone and promises to call the others if they are needed. In a room modeled after an M.C. Escher staircase, she confronts Jareth while trying to retrieve Toby. She tries to recite the line from her play, that has told her adventure to that point, but can’t remember the last line. As Jareth begs her to obey him and he will love her, she remembers the line „You have no power over me!“ Defeated at the last second, Jareth returns Sarah and Toby to the real world safely.

Realizing how important Toby is to her, she gives him Lancelot and returns to her room. While there, she sees her friends in the mirror and realizes even though she is growing up, she still needs them in her life. In an instant, all of the major characters from the Labyrinth appear in her room for a raucous celebration while Jareth’s owl form watches from outside and then flies away into the night.