Image by Burak Arikan via butdoesitfloat

The above image is a photograph of a flag, the flag of Germany, on a computer monitor. Blurring the image has created an entirely new and beautiful thing. It seems simple. Is it?

When we move our eyes quickly or if something moves past us quickly things become blurred. No mystery here to the scientists, but again, the result is more beautiful than the non-blurred image. To me at least.

Here’s another comparison of unblurred and motion blurred from the lab

German artist Gerhard Richter blurred many of his paintings in the 1960’s. This one is from 1965. You can see the original at The Art Institute, Chicago. Something has happened by the apparently simple act of blurring the image. What is it?

Frau, die Treppe herabgehend
Woman Descending the Staircase

Another Richter image from here

It’s blurred, it’s beautiful. That’s all I know.