Blog 2 - Math + Art
My immediate reaction to this week's topic was a single word: pattern. When you think of similarity, you can generally recognize that two or three very different things all focus or surround the idea of patterns. Math and Art are no exceptions. Then, through reading the Pollock's Fractals article from Discover Magazine, I saw their connection of the two to a pattern. Pollock is and was a fairly controversial abstract artist, and in this article, the author attempts to defend Pollock by explaining fractals. Where they seem nearly half-done, these fractals are in a way mathematical and exist in mathematical theory (Ouellette, 2001).
Where the Flatland reading was lighthearted, I was able to grasp from it a concept that I saw arise from both Art and Math. The concept being: the more dimensions, the better (Abbott, 2004). We understand both art and math to have developed and improved over time. This, uncoincidentally, follows the 'discovery' of increased dimensions. One of the required readings touches on this 'hyperbolic' nature. Diana Taimina's "Crochet Coral Reef" is seen to be pretty monumental in its contribution to the crossover of hyperbolic space from mathematics to art (Institute for Figuring).
Upon further reading, I see another insight made by many. Both in lecture and the Henderson reading, there is some reference to the idea of geometry and its influence. Henderson is passionate about the remarkable advances that geometry has had in aiding art. Calling it a "symbol for liberation in artists" and that the incorporation "signified new freedom from tradition and established rules" (Henderson, 1984). In lecture, Prof. Vesna used the example of Piero della Francesca. Francesa is seen to be one of the first and greatest of artists in applying perspective. His work helped in developing the concept of the vanishing point, one that all artists and many non-artists are aware of. Vanishing points having geometric significance is a huge crossover between art and math. (Calter, 1998)
Crossovers like these seem, to me at least, make the word juxtaposition a little bit less meaningful when discussing the differences between art, science, and math. Where their differences are there, and mainly socio-educational, the so-called 'juxtaposition' of the subjects seems to be less and less contemporarily.
Sources:
Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Detroit: Gale, 2004.
Calter, Paul. "Polyhedra & Plagiarism in the Renaissance." Geometry in Art & Architecture Unit 13. 1998. Accessed April 14, 2019. https://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/unit13/unit13.html.
Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. "The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion." Leonardo 17, no. 3 (1984): 205-10. doi:10.2307/1575193.
Institute for Figuring. "Daina Taimina." Daina Taimina | Crochet Coral Reef. Accessed April 14, 2019. https://crochetcoralreef.org/contributors/daina_taimina.php.
Ouellette, Jennifer. "Pollock's Fractals." Discover Magazine. November 1, 2001. Accessed April 14, 2019. http://discovermagazine.com/2001/nov/featpollock.
Upon further reading, I see another insight made by many. Both in lecture and the Henderson reading, there is some reference to the idea of geometry and its influence. Henderson is passionate about the remarkable advances that geometry has had in aiding art. Calling it a "symbol for liberation in artists" and that the incorporation "signified new freedom from tradition and established rules" (Henderson, 1984). In lecture, Prof. Vesna used the example of Piero della Francesca. Francesa is seen to be one of the first and greatest of artists in applying perspective. His work helped in developing the concept of the vanishing point, one that all artists and many non-artists are aware of. Vanishing points having geometric significance is a huge crossover between art and math. (Calter, 1998)
Crossovers like these seem, to me at least, make the word juxtaposition a little bit less meaningful when discussing the differences between art, science, and math. Where their differences are there, and mainly socio-educational, the so-called 'juxtaposition' of the subjects seems to be less and less contemporarily.
Sources:
Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Detroit: Gale, 2004.
Calter, Paul. "Polyhedra & Plagiarism in the Renaissance." Geometry in Art & Architecture Unit 13. 1998. Accessed April 14, 2019. https://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/unit13/unit13.html.
Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. "The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion." Leonardo 17, no. 3 (1984): 205-10. doi:10.2307/1575193.
Institute for Figuring. "Daina Taimina." Daina Taimina | Crochet Coral Reef. Accessed April 14, 2019. https://crochetcoralreef.org/contributors/daina_taimina.php.
Ouellette, Jennifer. "Pollock's Fractals." Discover Magazine. November 1, 2001. Accessed April 14, 2019. http://discovermagazine.com/2001/nov/featpollock.
Hi Tana. I really liked how you structured your blog post, starting with your personal thoughts and then later elaborating on what you learned. Your style is writing is really eloquent and it seemed like you went out of your way to do extra research on the topic. I also like how you ended it, saying how after viewing over the material, the juxtaposition is less meaningful to you. Good job!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was thinking about the juxtaposition of math and art I believed it was there, but reading your take on it makes me wonder more if the juxtaposition between the two really is that meaningful.
ReplyDelete