Week 2: Math + Art

I thought Professor Vesna's lecture this week was very interesting discussing how Art and Math play off each other and allow one to let the other operate. As Professor Vesna says, Math is a study of the relationship between numbers; a "language" incorporating combinations, extrapolations, forms, structures, etc. And, speaking about visual art specifically, it is critical to be able to understand to some extend how spaces, numbers, structures work in accordance to each other if he/she wishes to create whatever he/she is attempting to make. The artist Michelangelo used mathematics to make sure his sculpture, "The David," was proportional and symmetrical. Simultaneously, Jackson Pollock is a good example of an artist that at first glance, looks like he has little symmetry or balance to his method, but the "fractals" are composed of a single geometric pattern repeated thousands of times at different magnifications." According to Discover Magazine's article, "Pollock's Fractals," Pollock was arguably the best artist in America, despite those the critics who believed a "monkey could do the same."

The mathematical "Golden Ratio" which was highlighted in Professor Vesna's lecture has been used in architectural structures since the Greeks. The ratio allowed for the Greeks to design the dimensions of their structures which would prove to be structurally sound and elegantly built, as some still stand today, such as the parthenon.  

"The Forth Dimension" by Henderson discussed a future with a so-called fourth dimension that would be the beginning of a new influence. The influence could allow for even a larger integration of art and mathematics. There are artists that have already began to touch on the "fourth dimension" in some aspects. Another reading that was very interesting was the "Vanishing Points and Looking at Art" article, which discussed the mathematics and vantage point an artist must use when attempting to imitate are real life view of a scene or object in the distance. When trying to portray it realistically, the artist must make sure to converge the parallel line at the vanishing point. In conclusion, art and mathematics would not be the same today if they weren't for each other and the future of the two coexistence is only going to grow.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)#/media/File:David_von_Michelangelo.jpg

https://mattbutler247.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/jackson-pollock1.jpg

http://www.joshuagarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/goldenratio_parthenon.jpg

Henderson, Linda. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” MIT Press. 17.3 (1984): 205-10. Print.

"Vansishing Points and Looking at Art." http://www.cs.ucf.edu/courses/cap6938-02/refs/VanishingPoints.pdf

Ouellette, Jennifer. "Pollock's Fractals." http://discovermagazine.com/2001/nov/featpollock