ELI5: What Is Op Art?

Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses clever patterns, shapes, and colors to create wild optical illusions that trick your brain into seeing movement on a flat, still picture.

Imagine looking at a drawing in a coloring book, but instead of sitting quietly on the page, the lines look like they are wiggling, flashing, or sinking into a deep hole. That is the magic of op art. The picture is completely still, but because of the way the artist arranges simple shapes, your eyes and brain get confused and think it is moving.

You can spot the ideas of op art hiding in everyday life all the time:

• Swirly clothing: If you have ever seen someone wear a shirt with tight black-and-white stripes that seems to shimmer, buzz, or hurt your eyes a little when they walk by, you have experienced op art.
• Tiled floors: Some kitchen, bathroom, or mall floors are made of alternating dark and light square tiles arranged in a way that makes the flat ground look bumpy, wavy, or like it has steps you might trip over.
• Crosswalks on the road: In some neighborhoods, street painters design flat white stripes that look like floating, 3D blocks to trick drivers into slowing down.
• Zebra herds: In nature, when a group of zebras stands together, their black-and-white stripes blend into a giant, confusing pattern that makes it hard for a lion to tell where one animal ends and another begins.