Relativity《相對性》

愛藝

Relativity is a lithograph print （27.7 cm × 29.2 cm） by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher， first printed in December 1953.

It depicts a world in which the normal laws of gravity do not apply. The architectural structure seems to be the centre of an idyllic community， with most of its inhabitants casually going about their ordinary business， such as dining. There are windows and doorways leading to park-like outdoor settings. All of the figures are dressed in identical attire and have featureless bulb-shaped heads. Identical characters such as these can be found in many other Escher works.

In the world of Relativity， there are three sources of gravity， each being orthogonal to the two others. Each inhabitant lives in one of the gravity wells， where normal physical laws apply. There are sixteen characters， spread between each gravity source， six in one and five each in the other two. The apparent confusion of the lithograph print comes from the fact that the three gravity sources are depicted in the same space.

The structure has seven stairways， and each stairway can be used by people who belong to two different gravity sources. This creates interesting phenomena， such as in the top stairway， where two inhabitants use the same stairway in the same direction and on the same side， but each using a different face of each step; thus， one descends the stairway as the other climbs it， even while moving in the same direction nearly side-by-side. In the other stairways， inhabitants are depicted as climbing the stairways upside-down， but based on their own gravity source， they are climbing normally.

Each of the three parks belongs to one of the gravity wells. All but one of the doors seem to lead to basements below the parks. Though physically possible， such basements are certainly unusual and add to the surreal effect of the picture.

This is one of Escher’s most popular works and has been used in a variety of ways.

《相對性》是荷蘭畫家M.C.埃舍爾創作的一幅平版印刷畫（27.7厘米×29.2厘米），首印于1953年12月。

該畫描繪了一個正常的引力定律不適用的世界。這個建筑結構體似乎是一個安逸社區的中心，大多數居民都在閑散地做著平時該干的事，比如有人正在吃飯。有窗戶和門廊通往類似公園的戶外。畫中所有的人都身著相同的服裝，燈泡般的頭部沒有任何特征。相同的人物造型在埃舍爾其他許多作品中也可以看到。

在《相對性》的世界中，存在3個重力源，每個都與另外兩個成正交。每個居民生活在一個重力井中，正常的物理定律適用于這個相對獨立的空間。畫中有16個人，分布在每兩個重力源之間——一個里面有6個人，另外兩個各5個。這幅平版印刷畫之所以一眼看去令人困惑，是因為畫家將3個重力源描繪在了同一個空間內。

這一結構體有7段階梯，每段階梯可由分屬兩個不同重力源的人使用。這就產生了有趣的現象，比如，頂層階梯上，兩個居民使用的是同一方向、同一側面的同一段階梯，但兩人踩踏的卻是每一級臺階的不同面;于是，畫面呈現出一人在下樓而另一人在上樓，雖然他們幾乎是肩并肩朝著同一方向移動。其他的階梯上，居民被描繪為倒著爬樓，但在他們自己的重力源中，他們的爬樓很正常。

三座花園的每一座各屬一個重力井。除了一扇門，其他的門似乎都指向公園下方的地下室。這樣的地下室從物理上看是可能存在的，但肯定非同尋常，也為該畫增添了超現實色彩。

這幅畫是埃舍爾最受歡迎的作品之一，人們一直以各種方式應用在多個領域。