88: Escher Bracelet

Image Text

The only downside is that it would be a little uncomfortable.

Description

Escher here refers to Maurits Cornelis Escher, a Dutch graphic artist best known for his “impossible in reality” drawings, such as a pair of hands drawing each other on paper and multidimensional buildings that have stairs and/or water both running horizontal and vertical while using the same gravity. Escher's work was partly inspired by impossible objects, such as the Penrose tribar.

Depicted here is a variation of such an impossible object: a bracelet that is solid (without any breaks) but has one horizontal turn of the material used. In spite of the above mentioned tribar, this object is possible in real life. (due to the equal shadowing Randall used). The image text references this, stating that it would be possible to create such a bracelet, but the wearer would have to bear the turn cutting into the skin.

The "WWED" (What would Escher do?) references a bracelet with the acronym “WWJD” (What would Jesus do?). This popular item is used by Christians to remind them to behave as Jesus would do to be a good person. The bracelet could also refer to the type of rubber bracelet popular around the time of this comic's release (popularized first by biker Lance Armstrong’s anti-Cancer “Livestrong” yellow rubber bracelets).