Apart from humans, there is at least one other species associated with the production of ‘art’: the Australian and New Guinean bowerbird builds elaborate architectural constructions to lure its mate. These structures are decorated with shells, leaves, flowers, and pieces of plastic; anything the bird can find, it uses.
The constructions are sophisticated enough to employ false perspective: a visual illusion that optically enlarges or diminishes an object through the contextual placement of other objects. Baroque altars, for instance, appear taller because the sculptures near the top are slightly smaller than our eye would expect, amplifying the sense of divine or ecclesiastical power.
Bowerbirds, however, seem to use forced perspective in the opposite direction: objects further away are placed slightly larger than expected, flattening the apparent depth. The result is that the male — who does the building — appears smaller when standing at the far end of his construction. It is a strange inversion: why would a male bowerbird deploy special effects that make him look less impressive? Perhaps the construction itself is the point, and its apparent scale is what attracts. Perhaps the flattened surface is itself the display.
Thanks to Jan Verpooten for pointing this out.
Sources:
Guardian, Bowerbird builds a house of illusions to improve his chances of mating, by Mo Constandi, 19 Jan 2012
Wired, Absurd Creature of the Week: Meet the Bird That Lies and Tricks Its Way Into Sex, by Matt Simon, 2 Dec 2016
Nature, Perspective of a Bird, by Casey Dunn, 26 Oct 2010
Sciencemag, Illusions Promote Mating Success in Great Bowerbirds, by
Laura A. Kelley, John A. Endler, 20 Jan 2012