Kaleidoscope Review V1N2.pdf

Copyright © 2013, B. Bensley, Bensley Enterprises The New Kaleidoscope Review 1

LEIDOSCOPE

EVIEW

The Work Continues!

By Brett Bensley, Editor Bensley Enterprises I know it has been a while since the last issue. As we get

more articles from the readers, the more often and larger

this magazine will become. Then again, if no one wants

this to continue…you are out of luck there. This will

continue. Please be kind and submit kaleidoscope related

materials for the next issue. Pictures of your work are very

welcome. Articles about kaleidoscopes, kaleidoscope

events, how-tos and more are welcome. There is no

charge for the magazine, copies of the magazine, or for

having anything included.

I thank you for those who have helped support the

kaleidoscope world and everyone’s efforts at promoting

the artform.

And we have surpassed 500 copies downloaded!

Ambigrams and Kaleidoscopes

By Brett Bensley What are ambigrams? This is where we start this article,

trying to define an ambigram. There are many great

resources on the internet and I recommend:

http://www.ambigram.com/

Per this site an ambigram is a “typographical creation that

presents two or more separate words within the same physical

space.” What this means in simple terms is what looks like a

word may be the same or another word AS WELL, by rotation or

reflection.

For a simple example, and the ones I will use most in this

article, the word WOW works wonders. If you rotate the

word WOW, upside down you will get the word MOM.

Try it!

For reflection, place the word WOW, or MOM, up to a

mirror and you should see the word again. That is

reflection. You can also cut the word in half, through the

O and hold that up to a mirror and get the complete word.

These are all simple forms of ambigrams.

I have been using ambigrams both inside kaleidoscopes

and for fun for many years. And to brag a little, I am a

prize winning ambigramist (if that is a real word) by being

the winner of the Magic Magazine ambigram contest.

But what about their use in kaleidoscopes?

I have been adding words to kaleidoscopes before I made

my marriage proposal kaleidoscope for my wife in 1997. I

learned about ambigrams about the same time from Scott

Kim’s book Inversions, and have included ambigrams in

kaleidoscopes ever since.

So now we start our adventure with kaleidoscopes and

ambigrams, by using our WOW.

If you wanted to use your ambigram in a kaleidoscope, you

will need to know what form of reflection or rotation it

uses. Some work very well and others do not. Our word

WOW, as mentioned before can be cut along the center of

the word through the O, thus you can use this with the

mirror. This will make the entire word WOW, with the

word continuing to reflect in the image as can be seen in

The word magic. Rotate to read it again.

My last name as an ambigram.

Again a rotational ambigram.

Not my best work, but good

examples of rotational ambigrams.

http://www.ambigram.com/


Figure 1 - WOW with center reflection

Figure 2 - WOW with full reflection

figure 1.

You will note that the mirror is in the center of the O in the

word, and thus we are only using the last (or first) W and half

the O.

Your brain will take this word and in the reflections turn it

either into WOW or MOM. What mother wouldn’t want a

kaleidoscope that shows how you think about her in an

interesting way?

There is another reflection form we can illustrate with our

word WOW and that is what was shown in the previous

example. We can reflect the entire word and make it say

MOM WOW as can be seen in Figure 2.

Now we can show our mother how much more we think

about her in our kaleidoscopes!

I hope this introduction to ambigrams and kaleidoscopes has

been educational and inspiring. For many years, I have

enjoyed both, separately and together. In special scopes,

unique ambigrams have been created for the owner to help

celebrate.

I hope you will check the ambigram resources listed in this

article to help you start using them, but this comes with a

word of caution. Most ambigrams are copyrighted and cannot

be used without the permission of the creator. I do give you

permission to use the WOW and MOM ambigrams because

they are what I call natural ambigrams, those created by the

words and not by an artist.

For those who need more technical detail, such as how to get

the words into the kaleidoscope, I recommend either of the

following techniques:

1. Print your ambigram on overhead transparency

sheets available at office supply stores.

2. Use rub on letters, if not using special lettering

created by an artist.

Place the transparency material between the mirrors and the

object chamber.

You can have the ambigram printed on material to keep it

safe in the object chamber and incorporate it in the chamber.

Though this may not always guarantee that the ambigram will

show correctly, it does create interesting options to your

artwork.

Ambigrams and Kaleidoscopes - continued from page 2

By changing the

angles between

the mirrors you

can increase the

reflections as

with any object.

More Room for Your Kaleidoscopes

By Brett Bensley Have you run out of room displaying kaleidoscopes

within your home, or even storing them? I am sure

you may question adding another shelf, or dresser, or

cabinet, or move.

I have found a unique way of adding storage space to

your home for kaleidoscopes. While this is not a

“great” display for these scopes, it does give you

more room.

Under the bed storage. Yes, under the bed.

Without a lot of expense or materials, you can add

nice storage under your bed, provided your bed is on

a bed frame.

I am not talking about just shoving the scopes under

the bed and hoping you can get them back out.

During some home renovations, we removed some

kitchen cabinets. These were “built-in” cabinets and

thus needed to be “torn apart” to remove. I pulled

out a few drawers and an idea on reuse sprang to

mind; under bed storage.

I measured under my son’s bed and found most of the

drawers fit and some were too large. I then went to a

local hardware store to find small casters to put

underneath and with a few dollars, had extra space

for storage.

Adding a four small casters or rollers to each drawer,

and making sure of the clearance under the bed, I had

a nice storage space and they actually looked nice.

If you wanted, you could go to the expense of making

a bed frame with drawers, or having custom drawers

made. But for a few extra dollars and some scrap

drawers from cabinets or dressers, you can add some

very nice storage under your bed for those extra

kaleidoscopes you need a home for.

I would recommend you spend a few more dollars to

line the drawers with some nice material and

padding. Maybe add some custom partitions.

Drawer Under Bed

Empty Drawer

Rollers added

to the corners.

Be sure to keep

the wheels

from hitting

the drawer

frame, and

that the screws

don’t go all the

way through.


Image from kaleidoscope plan. Mini wands are the object for this design.


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it is supporting the entire venue of kaleidoscopes and

kaleidoscope artistry.

For the next issue, please send any articles, suggestions,

ideas, pictures, etc. to [email protected]. Please include

TNKR in the subject to speed the processing.

Hope you enjoy this issue. We hope you enjoy this issue of The New Kaleidoscope

Review. It covers a lot of diverse subjects including how to

make a kaleidoscope. We plan more for upcoming issues,

and hope you will support us by supplying information for

the next issue.

You can also print this out and mail it to your friends and

relatives. There is no charge for the issue.

Please feel free to share any links of this magazine, or email

your friends and relatives of where they can obtain a copy.

In these last few lines, I truly hope you all have happy and

safe holidays. Celebrate them with a kaleidoscope in your

hand!

mailto:[email protected]

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Kaleidoscope Review V1N2.pdf