Don't Judge Art by its Surface

I have to draw on my psychology background a little bit for this post. Art is such an interesting tool for expression, because, as Photoshop clearly acknowledges, it operates in layers. People who don't understand art (I am not immune to this), oftentimes see only the surface layer. This can be explained by a simple little psychological school of thought known as Gestalt psychology which asserts that, "visual information is understood holistically before it is examined separately" (Stewart, pg. 68). More simply put, we seek out unity in the world. Our minds don't like to confront chaos and confusion, but art, (or at least the more fascinating art, in my opinion) is intended to bring us out of our comfort zone. Consider the image below. At the surface level the image appears to move, but upon closer inspection it is the ingenious use of lines and patterns that creates the illusion of movement. The mind is so easily tricked.