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Star Wars Day: May the Fourth Be with You

16-year-old Paul Vermeesch recreate the impossible structures in M.C. Escher's Relativity--but with a Star Wars theme--in LEGO.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Ed. Note: Content from this post originally appeared in the Sleights of Mind website.

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As the world prepares to celebrate Star Wars Day on May 4th, it seems fitting to feature a Star Wars illusion this week. After very careful consideration, it is clear we must go with then-16-year-old Paul Vermeesch‘s 2012 Legos diorama.


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Vermeesch used Legos to recreate the impossible structures in M.C. Escher‘s Relativity with a Star Wars theme.

Awesome, right? But you haven’t heard the best part yet.

He did it with The. Original. Trilogy.

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Vermeesch describes his creation with additional images here.

For those of you counting the days until the release of Episode VII, you can watch the new teaser trailer, featuring Chewbacca and an aging-but-never-old Han Solo.

Or see the LEGO version below.

Susana Martinez-Conde is a professor of ophthalmology, neurology, and physiology and pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is author of the Prisma Prize–winning Sleights of Mind, along with Stephen Macknik and Sandra Blakeslee, and of Champions of Illusion, along with Stephen Macknik.

More by Susana Martinez-Conde