Perception plays an integral role in how we see things in our visual world. By piecing together what is currently in our sensory field, along with things we remember from the past, we can make sense of our surroundings. Artwork is a great example of this visual phenomenon. Artists are able to manipulate their creations to create different ways of perceiving an image, such as the creation shown in this entry. When looking at this image, we perceive the stairs in one of two ways; either leading up or descending. The creator of this set of stairs used different methods of stair slopes and directional changes to give it two major characteristics; either ascending higher off the ground or descending down to ground level. This illusion can be perceived different ways, none of which are technically wrong. Depending on where you begin to analyze the steps, they can lead you up or take you back down, in effect meeting at one central base. So, the initial question still stands as stated in the title: Should we take the stairs up, or follow them down? Only your own perception of the image will give you the answer.
