Designer: Jim Steinmeyer
Builder: Willie Kennedy, Also can contact Jim Steinmeyer directly for more information

Op-Art is a gradual, visual disappearance of the magician’s assistant into five square panels leaving only her head in view. It was first introduced by Kalin and Jinger. The assistant enters a cart on wheels. A life-size two-dimensional illustration is assembled in front of her, shielding her from view. The illustration is typically a line drawing of a woman directly correlating to the position of the girl in the box. One by one the panels are slid back or removed until just one panel is left with the assistant’s head on top. The illusion can be shown all around during the performance. The audience concludes that the assistant’s body must have either vanished piece by piece with the removal of the panels or that she must have somehow impossibly crammed her entire body into the 1ft cube which is just below her head. The panels are subsequently replaced and the assistant emerges unharmed.

Op-Art is protected under a design patent that was filed in 2005. The date of the patent is Aug 22, 2006 – US Patent No. D527,158.

Photo Credit: Murray Hatfield (red frame)