A vanishing point is the imaginary point in linear perspective where parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance. In the provided context, it is described as a key feature of the perspectival space associated with Western linear perspective. By contrast, parallel projection or axonometry does not rely on a vanishing point; parallel lines remain parallel even as they extend indefinitely. The context also explains that in Ryu Furusawa’s work Passing, digital processing gradually transforms a perspective space organized around a vanishing point into a parallel-projection-like space.
The sources frame this shift as more than a visual adjustment. In Passing, the image is treated as a thickened volume made from stacked frames, and the angle of the cross-section can be rotated freely. This disrupts the simultaneity of time within a single frame and dissolves the spatial order that normally converges toward a vanishing point. The term therefore functions here as a reference point for understanding the contrast between perspectival depth and non-perspectival, parallel spatial organization.