This was such a beautiful and thought-provoking read! I love how you turned Escher’s work into something so human and relatable, that feeling of chasing something just out of reach. The idea that what we’re searching for might already be within us is very powerful…It made me pause in a good way. Thanks for sharing such a great read✨
Thank you so much. I am glad you liked it. That is actually what Escher meant to me the first time I stumbled upon his work in an exhibition in the Blue Palace of Pisa. Have you ever had the occasion to see his prints in person?
I have been interested in Eschers work for sometime. I fell upon one of his books on a coffee table and couldn’t resist looking at the intertwining and connected repeated horses, fish, and drawings. My interest in your writing is your reference to the liminal. This concept is intriguing and relates to my current art exhibition I’m developing a theme around. Threshold. Would love to connect and share my writing with you for feedback.
I was in Granada and saw the beautiful Alhambra, but unfortunately, I didn't see any of Escher's works. Now I am reading your interpretation of his art and enjoying it. Your language in the description of his art is so brilliant that becomes magnetic. I love your language of oppositions: "finite piece of something endless", the infinity of repetition of pattern, infinity within the boundaries ...
But your writing is impressive. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to give you my recommendation, as I wished to, because Substack doesn't accept it, or I don't understand how to do it technically, which is possible because of my technical stupidity.
This is stunning Vittorio! I love how you turn Escher into a mirror for our restlessness, that reflex to sprint toward some final threshold and shrink in the process. I love the reversal: infinity can be contemplated but never possessed, and it isn’t “out there,” but folded into the everyday.
I’m thinking and writing right now about the sublime and transcendence, and this gave me a lot to think about. Especially your reframing of “beyond” as something encountered through stillness and attention, not pursued like a finish line.
It was my first time seeing M.C. Escher’s work, and quite apart from the criticism you mentioned, it reminded me of Seo-bo Park’s ‘Écriture Series’.
Anyway, I think your art review is the best I’ve read so far.
It’s easy and enjoyable to read, even for someone who knows little about art, yet it’s not too superficial—it has a thoughtful depth to it, which I really appreciate.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the joy of reading someone’s writing and looking forward to their next piece :)
What stands out is the way it uses Escher not just as an aesthetic reference, but as a conceptual tool to question a very familiar intuition - that meaning, clarity, or “answers” always lie just beyond some threshold we haven’t yet crossed.
The connection between the receding finish line and the logic of the Poincaré disk is particularly effective: the closer one seems to get, the more the structure itself ensures distance. It’s a compelling way of reframing the pursuit of transcendence.
The suggestion that infinity might be immanent rather than elsewhere is not new philosophically, but it’s rendered here with unusual clarity and immediacy. It lingers.
A brilliant article! The journey from the geometric patterns of the Alhambra to Escher's visual loops, and the relationship it draws between finite loops and infinity, is worth sitting with. I'd never thought to imagine myself as part of a pattern, trapped inside its own tessellation loop. Looking for boundlessness within ourselves... just great.
The idea that infinity isn’t something we reach but something already embedded in the finite is something that runs through your reading of Escher’s circle limits. That shift from chasing to recognizing is what stood out to me as the core of your piece.
At the same time, I wondered whether the impulse to chase the horizon should be resisted so completely. In Escher’s work, the movement toward the edge, even if it never arrives, is what creates the tension of the image. Without that pull, the structure would lose something essential.
So I’m not sure the “running” is only something to retreat from. It might be that infinity shows itself through the tension between movement and stillness?
It’s not just visual tricks — there’s a kind of discipline behind it.
To me, it shows that creativity doesn’t come from having no limits, but from working within them. That balance between freedom and structure is what makes his work so interesting.
This was such a beautiful and thought-provoking read! I love how you turned Escher’s work into something so human and relatable, that feeling of chasing something just out of reach. The idea that what we’re searching for might already be within us is very powerful…It made me pause in a good way. Thanks for sharing such a great read✨
Thank you so much. I am glad you liked it. That is actually what Escher meant to me the first time I stumbled upon his work in an exhibition in the Blue Palace of Pisa. Have you ever had the occasion to see his prints in person?
Sadly not:)
I have been interested in Eschers work for sometime. I fell upon one of his books on a coffee table and couldn’t resist looking at the intertwining and connected repeated horses, fish, and drawings. My interest in your writing is your reference to the liminal. This concept is intriguing and relates to my current art exhibition I’m developing a theme around. Threshold. Would love to connect and share my writing with you for feedback.
Absolutely, let‘s connect
I was in Granada and saw the beautiful Alhambra, but unfortunately, I didn't see any of Escher's works. Now I am reading your interpretation of his art and enjoying it. Your language in the description of his art is so brilliant that becomes magnetic. I love your language of oppositions: "finite piece of something endless", the infinity of repetition of pattern, infinity within the boundaries ...
Thank you so much, Larisa. Yes, I tend to think through dichotomies and opposites… I guess it is reflected in my writing, haha.
But your writing is impressive. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to give you my recommendation, as I wished to, because Substack doesn't accept it, or I don't understand how to do it technically, which is possible because of my technical stupidity.
I will try to learn. Thank you.
This is stunning Vittorio! I love how you turn Escher into a mirror for our restlessness, that reflex to sprint toward some final threshold and shrink in the process. I love the reversal: infinity can be contemplated but never possessed, and it isn’t “out there,” but folded into the everyday.
I’m thinking and writing right now about the sublime and transcendence, and this gave me a lot to think about. Especially your reframing of “beyond” as something encountered through stillness and attention, not pursued like a finish line.
Can't wait for your next piece next Tuesday! 🤍
Thank you so much, Emma. I am really looking forward to reading your piece on the sublime and transcendence then.
🧠👁️🫀
It was my first time seeing M.C. Escher’s work, and quite apart from the criticism you mentioned, it reminded me of Seo-bo Park’s ‘Écriture Series’.
Anyway, I think your art review is the best I’ve read so far.
It’s easy and enjoyable to read, even for someone who knows little about art, yet it’s not too superficial—it has a thoughtful depth to it, which I really appreciate.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the joy of reading someone’s writing and looking forward to their next piece :)
Thank you so much for your kind comment! Really!
Welcome :)
A remarkably thoughtful piece.
What stands out is the way it uses Escher not just as an aesthetic reference, but as a conceptual tool to question a very familiar intuition - that meaning, clarity, or “answers” always lie just beyond some threshold we haven’t yet crossed.
The connection between the receding finish line and the logic of the Poincaré disk is particularly effective: the closer one seems to get, the more the structure itself ensures distance. It’s a compelling way of reframing the pursuit of transcendence.
The suggestion that infinity might be immanent rather than elsewhere is not new philosophically, but it’s rendered here with unusual clarity and immediacy. It lingers.
Wow this is my favorite article so far 👀
A brilliant article! The journey from the geometric patterns of the Alhambra to Escher's visual loops, and the relationship it draws between finite loops and infinity, is worth sitting with. I'd never thought to imagine myself as part of a pattern, trapped inside its own tessellation loop. Looking for boundlessness within ourselves... just great.
The Cogito point: do you think the loop is vicious or generative? Descartes treats it as bedrock, Hofstadter as emergence.
The idea that infinity isn’t something we reach but something already embedded in the finite is something that runs through your reading of Escher’s circle limits. That shift from chasing to recognizing is what stood out to me as the core of your piece.
At the same time, I wondered whether the impulse to chase the horizon should be resisted so completely. In Escher’s work, the movement toward the edge, even if it never arrives, is what creates the tension of the image. Without that pull, the structure would lose something essential.
So I’m not sure the “running” is only something to retreat from. It might be that infinity shows itself through the tension between movement and stillness?
It’s not just visual tricks — there’s a kind of discipline behind it.
To me, it shows that creativity doesn’t come from having no limits, but from working within them. That balance between freedom and structure is what makes his work so interesting.