Week 2: Math + Art
Prior to taking this class, I had never thought of math as an art. I imagined art and math as distinctively different from one another and did not really know of ways in which they crossed.
In lecture this week, Professor explained how mathematics has influenced art and science through mathematical formulas and their relation to regular and irregular shapes in the studies of visual art. Professor also talked about the vanishing point as it was derived from a mathematical formula in order to show perspectives in pieces of art.
Additionally, professor mentioned Leonardo Da Vinci and his relation to art and math, in which I further researched. In this research, I found that Da Vinci used mathematical principles of linear perspective in order to create the illusion of a flat surface in some of his work (Hywel, 2020).
The Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott also enabled me to see the connection between mathematics and art. Abbott wrote about the connection between geometric shapes and art, while talking about the universe in terms of geometic shapes and lines. Abbott made me realize just how present geometry is in our everyday lives. Furthermore, Henderson's Euclidean geometry writing talks about the 4th dimension in relation to art and math's interconnections. This paper tells us how art enabled mathematicians to view the fourth dimension and vice versa.
1. Vesna, Victoria. Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov. YouTube, YouTube, 9 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg&ab_channel=UCOnline.
2. Diagram Demonstrating Filippo Brunelleschi's Perspective Technique from a Los Painting of the Battistero di San Giovanni. Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florenz, Max-Planck-Institut. 2006, SCALA, Florence / ART RESOURCE, N.Y.
3. Hywel Jones. “Four Ways in Which Leonardo Da Vinci Was Ahead of His Time.” The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2020, https://theconversation.com/four-ways-in-which-leonardo-da-vinci-was-ahead-of-his-time-115338#:~:text=Da%20Vinci%20used%20the%20mathematical,walled%20garden%20and%20a%20path.
4. “The Last Supper (Leonardo).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo).
5. “Flatland.” Flatland, by E. A. Abbott, 1884, http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/eaa/FL.HTM.
6. Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 3, 1984, pp. 205–10, https://doi.org/10.2307/1575193. Accessed 8 Apr. 2022.
7. Escher, M.C. “Circle Limit I, 1958 - M.C. Escher.” Www.wikiart.org, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.wikiart.org/en/m-c-escher/circle-limit-i.
8. “The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher.” The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher | Platonic Realms, https://platonicrealms.com/minitexts/Mathematical-Art-Of-M-C-Escher.
Hi Justine,
ReplyDeleteI am happy that this class is beggining to blur the lines between math and art that have been created in your mind. I have been having a similar experience and think it is extremely interesting how there was once no distinction and this process has ultimately been a result of years of institutional agendas and planning in order to seperate the disciplines. It is very interesting how there is actual mathematics that can enable us to represent reality accurately in pasintings and drawings. I like how you supplemented this idea with the actual painting of Da Vinci's Last Supper. I also enjoyed how Flatland enabled you to see geometry in our everyday lives, this is extremely interesting because I did not notice how omnipresent geometry was in my own life until I began to think about this piece of writing. Lastly, the MC Escher piece that you found is really amazing and I think really highlights the synthesis between these disciplines.