Week 2: Math + Art

ART AND MATHEMATICS

Professor Vesna explored in lecture this week the relationship between art and mathematics.  I learned that Piero della Francesca, a medieval mathematician and painter, studied how math plays a role in art, in particular the geometry of vision.  There are many factors which contribute to how we see an object, including distance, boundaries, and intersection.  Francesca also proposed that painting involves three principle elements - drawing, proportion, and coloring.  

The Resurrection [detail] by Piero della Francesca

C1460? Museo Civico Sansepolocro

http://www.clivestratford.com/category/byzantine-art/

Professor Vesna next discussed the Golden Ratio in relation to art and architecture.  When artists use the Golden Ratio in designing their works, it imposes proportionality [1 to 1.618] which makes the production appear more aesthetically pleasing.  Studies show the presence of the Golden Ratio in the design of the Parthenon.  You can see Golden Rectangles, which are an application of the Golden Ratio, in the spaces between the columns.  Also, the Parthenon’s floor plan [?] is a Golden Rectangle.  Modern designers and artists use the Golden Ratio in their works.  One example is the Apple logo. 

The Golden Ratio in the Apple Logo

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044877/the-golden-ratio-designs-biggest-myth

 

The Golden Ratio in the Parthenon

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044877/the-golden-ratio-designs-biggest-myth

Nathan Selikoff’s video about his art caught my attention.  He is an artist and computer programmer who provides a microphone for people to speak into or to make noises.  Selikoff developed a computer program which interprets sounds which are projected onto a wall.  You can “see” the sound being heard by the microphone.  It involves a fascinating combination of art and technology.  Selikoff took the uniqueness of sound and created a way to visualize audio patterns.  As the result, we get visual art where no art existed before. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jGn3exUtAs

The mingling of art, science and math present an interesting and unexpected expansion of my understanding concerning how things work.  I know the physical world can be described with mathematics.  Water boils and freezes at specific temperatures [numbers], for instance.  I had an “ahah” moment when I witnessed math applied to paintings and architecture for aesthetic analysis.  The idea that beauty can be described with math is not intuitive for me.  Aesthetics is subjective.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?  So, how can we use math, an objective tool of science, in a subjective context to identify beauty?

Sources:

Vesna, Victoria. “Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov.” Cole UC             online. Youtube, 9 April 2016. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg&feature=player_emb            edded

Selikoff, Nathan. Processing Orlando Art + Tech Showcase – Nathan Selifoff, Audio          Imprint Clock. Youtube, 9 April 2016. Web. 23 December 2013.         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jGn3exUtAs

Stratford, Clive. Piero della Francesca: A Byzantine Gaze. 9 April 2016. Web. 17 March 2015. http://www.clivestratford.com/category/byzantine-art/

Brownlee, John. The Golden Ratio: Design’s Biggest Myth. 9 April 2016. Web. 13 April   2015. http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044877/the-golden-ratio-designs-     biggest-myth

Selikoff, Nathan. Fine artist playing at the intersection of interactivity, math, and code.       9 April 2016. Web. http://nathanselikoff.com/

Week 1: "Two Cultures"

            The Two Cultures topic is very relevant to my personal and academic history.  I have been a dancer my entire life, and my focus in school, beginning in the seventh grade, has been on performing arts.  My mental strengths are greater in the arts compared to math and science. 

            As a World Arts and Cultures Major, I have been secluded in Kaufman Hall, rarely venturing into South campus where the sciences are taught.  When I walk into Kaufman Hall pictured here, I feel as if I’m not on the UCLA campus.  The astrology department building represents a clear distinction between my artistic studies in North campus and the hard sciences in South campus.  The differences are plainly seen in the architectural differences between the North and South campus sections.  

Mathematical Science Building http://www.astro.ucla.edu/planetarium/directions/

 

Kaufman Hall http://baswaphon.com/portfolio/ucla-kaufman-hall

Murphy Sculpture Garden http://luskinconferencecenter.ucla.edu/about/things-to-do-ucla/

I envy those who can bridge the gap between art and science, combining both in order to understand each better.  Dance is an artistic presentation involving a precise use of the body, which is analyzed scientifically in detail in South campus.  The body connection leads many dancers into physical therapy, physiology, kinesiology and other sciences to more fully understand the body’s functions in dance.  

While researching for this piece, I came across a program called Dance Science at Trinity Laban.  It is a school where students study the physical demands and effects of dance on the body.  They use masks to capture breathing patterns, studying one dancer over a period of time to acquire data based on the effects of movement.  

Dance Science http://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/dance/dance-science

Similarly, Elon University offers a Dance Science degree, where the “focus is on the practical applications of scientific principles to enhance dance and movement.”

Citations:

Baswa Acoustics. UCLA Kaufman Hall. Web. 3 April 2016. http://baswaphon.com/portfolio/ucla-kaufman-hall

Cathy Roe Dance. Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dancers.  YouTube. 3 April 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9jNOGn_i4 

Elon University. Dance Science Admissions. Web. 3 April 2016. http://www.elon.edu/e-web/admissions/majorsheets/dance_science.xhtml

 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Web. 3 April 2016.  http://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/dance/dance-science 

UCLA Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Planetarium and Telescope Shows.  Web. 3 April 2016. http://www.astro.ucla.edu/planetarium/directions/