I've never committed to a puzzle quite like the Escher puzzle. It wasn't even just the level of difficulty associated with the task that kept my interest. There were themes about the puzzle that intrigued me. There was the deadline to finish it. Finishing what I started with had to be the most driving force behind the whole thing. It was actualy quite marvelous to watch it all come together. There were times that I felt like it would take months to finish, but after I reached a certain point it all came together quite quickly.
The puzzle is 1000 pieces. It is named "Line Infiniti" and is a picture done by M.C. Escher. It is done in black and white and shades of grey. It is a picture of two men looking at each other except their heads are made in the shape of ribbons. The two ribbons connect at the top and bottom, while also intersecting near the forehead. The two heads are surrounded by a multitude of orbs in all sizes. The picture is shaded to where it appears there is a light in the top right corner of the image. So that is the facts about the picture now to go on to the themes.
The name of this puzzle alone is something interesting to me. I believe that the two men are a father and a son based on their similarity to one another. Which is also why it is line infiniti, because a line also refers to a family tree from one generation to the next. There is also the infinite part where the line never ends because the two objects are tied together on the same ribbon. This is a common trait amogst M.C. Escher drawings and paintings, who also happens to be one of my favorite artists. He commonly rejects the normal direction of painting in reality, while instead he toys within the infinite realms of art where there is no gravity, no structure. His ability to abuse perspective to its utmost is what I really enjoy. He also happens to be of Dutch origin which happens to be where I am living and I have walked by his musuem. The tie between father and son also enticed me. This can easily be explained because I am the son of a father and I will be carrying his line on for future generations.
Carrying on with this puzzle was not such an task. From the get-go I realized this was not going to be an easy task. In common puzzle etiquette, a person starts by finding all the borders and framing the image. So I layed out all the pieces and placed them face up to get a look at them, then I combed through searching for any flat edged pieces and corners. I was fortunately able to find all of them but saw a disturbing pattern arising. While the top and bottom edge were pieces with a thin line of white for the border and then black with maybe a piece of ball on it, the left and right edges where white. There was no color to them, no image to give away where they went, just a white shape. I attempted to finish the left and right edge but quickly realized that was going to take forever so I just pushed it to the side and moved on. I could complete the border because the next piece in on both sides had a visible distinction of a border and gave me my frame.
With the frame done I moved on to finding pieces that were part of very distinctive features of the picture, things such as: eyes, mouth, nose, hair, anything that was obviously different. Not as easy as it sounds. In a fiendish move, the designes of the puzzle managed to take anything that could be readily identified and then split it into two, three and most commonly four pieces. I was able to get most of the eyes done quickly but then all I had was these pupils staring creepily back at me. Eventually the face began to make a little sense. Then the heads began to take shape, all be it with a lot of holes. There was a point maybe a week or two ago where I thought it would take months to finish. I just couldn't believe I could connect anything that fast. The shades of grey made it extremely difficult. Everything looked the same. There wasn't any reds in this corner, blues on the bottom or greens up top. It was all the same piece, over and over again. I often would put a piece that I thought worked in a place where it fit, only to find out later it was the opposite side of the puzzle.
Throughout all of this turmoil, the core of the puzzle came into place and I could see the picture on the box. There was but one thing left in my way: the darkness. In a stroke of maniacal genius, the creators of the puzzle made sure to leave around twenty pieces as simply black. There was nothing else to them but their shape. They were just images of an infinite void. Luckily I saved them for towards the end so I cavemanly put pieces into the holes until they fit. With one final piece, I finished the puzzle around 10 pm last night. I felt great and was finally happy to see the puzzle done.
Then a strange feeling came over. With many puzzles, the picture is so neat or so challenging you want to frame it. I should frame the puzzle because it was quite an accomplishment to finish. Not even Alyssa's mom who does puzzles ALL the time could finish it. And she is a higher up at Shell. I don't think I want to frame the puzzle though. I don't want to hold on to it and try keep it forever. I think I would much rather break it back down to its original state and have someone else get the satisfaction of finishing it. Alyssa thinks no one will ever want to do that puzzle because of how hard it is. Possibly destroying got me thinking. Here in Europe it is common for there to be very old buildings in cities. These are centuries old and a window to the past. Often times they are being refurbished or restored so they can last forever. That is not the nature of things though. In life things are created, they live and they die. All things must end, they just can't be forgotten. That way future generations can see them and remember what came before them and possibly even restore the past with their own twist. Hopefully after I've shown my accomplishment to Alyssa's mom and I destroy that puzzle someone else will take up the challenge and try to finish the hardest puzzle I've ever done.
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