On the occasion of his 98th birthday, i.e. after an imaginary 2.38 years since Martin Gardner’s decease, 15 people gathered in the afternoon of Sunday October 21, 2012, causing the Amsterdam G4G 2012 at Nanco’s residence. The gathering theme is: “Mind & Mirror”, a subject Martin many times addresses in his works. At arrival at the location some 20 mirrorous objects already are displayed: from kaleidoscopes to anamorphosisses, from the Bell flower & mirror to the infinity mirror, from split-plane mirrors to a mirror cinematograph. Also symmetry is part of the theme due to its relation via mirrorwise reading and writing. Plane mirrors combined with rectangular 2D and 3D mirror constructions are inviting to play with. Some exiting analysis shows that your mind is always looking with one eye into a mirror construction, unless you are expressly urged to use both. Also that looking into a 2D rectangular mirror shows your face like others see you and when turning the 2D mirror 90 degrees (anti-)clockwise, your face tumbles with twice the speed to 180 degrees. Mirror fun and illusion are graced by tea, coffee and cake. Halfway the afternoon Asako Kanazawa plays the cello for some great moments of diversion with the J. S. Bach Suite for cello No. 3 in C major. Then she plays some mirror pieces on the cello; from a staircase illusion to small compositions of symmetric music. Some presents are handed out by Tim, Wil and Sjaak to all. Soft drinks, beer and wine are being served with snacks. A contest among all present approved that F.Hein’s Magic Mirage is the most exciting of the displayed “mirrors”: a set of five perspex planes, each printed with a binary field of black dots, which, put in the right order rectangular on a mirror, and looked through from a specific angle, shows an English sentence but also its translation into German in the mirror! A fantastic piece of computer design. Illusionist Flip Hallema concludes this G4G with a grand finale: dropping some paper napkins into a magic box that returns with a fall of shaving mirrors …. “No carnival mirrors this time, Martin!”
Nanco, Josefien, Rik, Janine, Frans, Joop, Wil, Tim, Flip, Sjaak, Oskar, José, Asako, Jelle and your reporter Leo.
