I came across the phrase mise en abyme the other day in a novel that I was reading and it took me back to my childhood. Mise en abyme, also known as the Droste Effect which is the effect of a picture recursively appearing within itself, further and further, possibly into infinity; first called the Droste Effect because it was named for the Dutch brand of cocoa that carried an image by Jan Misset way back in 1904. Mise en abyme literally means 'into the abyss.' I remember trying to see how many times you could see the image, deeper in and smaller each time, like standing encircled by mirrors and watching the images go on and on into the distance.
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Anita Struyk
12/9/2017 10:43:19 pm
Wow! I learned something new today. After reading this blog post I had to grab my "Droste" tin from the cupboard just to check it out. I bought the tin at a flea market in Amsterdam over 20 years ago. I will bring my tin can to school on Monday to share with my grade 2/3s. Thanks for this post Dennis (and for your encouragement 20 years ago to study in Amsterdam!)
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Anita Struyk
12/9/2017 10:45:10 pm
I think that was probably 30 years ago!
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