As a junior student majoring in Math/Econ, I was very glad to see the topic of this week! Mathematics eventually gained an approach to stay closer to the real world! It has been a long time that people consider Mathematics and people who study it as arcane and sophisticated while the art department, which is located in the far north of the campus, is usually none-related to math. As several points presented in Professor's lecture, I found the perspective to be the most direct interaction between math and art. Mathematician is not creating features but discovering facts. While we compare the paintings before and after Renaissance, we would see the clear difference in displaying objects since painters don't have the knowledge of projecting 3D object into 2D canvas (Aliar). Besides, the content starts to contain ordinary people instead of religious images. Therefore, the application of perspective in artwork shifted the paradigm of human aesthetic vision.
Madonna and Child (c.1300)
Young Woman With Unicorn. 1506
Besides the application of perspective, there are a lot more links between art and math, like the golden ratio, dimension. Even the technology of computer is heavily based on mathematical calculation, which is prevalently used in modern artwork.
Furthermore, there is a point of view stayed in my mind that mathematical formulas itself are artworks, some of them are even masterpiece! One famous example is Euler's Formula:
It was discovered in 1748 by Leonard Euler (1707 - 1783). No one could tell how it was created, maybe only god can interpret it. an equation connecting the fundamental numbers i, pi, e, 1, and 0 (zero), the fundamental operations +,* , and exponentiation, the most important relation =, and nothing else (Weisstein). I don't know what non-math major student see from this formula, but it gives me the same enjoyment of beauty and impression those amazing painting and sculpture has given me. It is a perfect union of the simple numbers, just like the great mountain combined every elements in the nature world.
I don't separate art and math as individual subject, but a different focus in discovering the world. Everything that inspires me and brings me the enjoyment of beauty would be considered an artwork to me, including the formulas and numbers that do so.
Reference
Aliar. "19 | November | 2012 | Alia's Site." Alias Site. IICS, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://aliar.iics-k12.com/2012/11/19/>.
Buoninsegna, Duccio Di. Madonna and Child. 1300. Greatest paintings of the Medieval era. The Stroganoff Madonna New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York CIty.
"Duccio Di Buoninsegna (c.1255-1319)." Duccio Di Buoninsegna: Sienese Painter, Maesta Altarpiece. Visual-arts-cork.com, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://www.visual-arts- cork.com/old-masters/duccio-buoninsegna.htm>.
Da Urbino, Raphael. Young Woman With Unicorn. 1506. Oil Paint. 65 cm × 61 cm. Galleria Borghese.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Woman_with_Unicorn. 12, 10, 2013.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Euler Formula." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/EulerFormula.html
Hey Larry! This was definitely an interesting blog to read. I liked how you incorporated a majority of this week's lesson, i.e. perspective and golden ratio. What I enjoyed most is your example of Euler's Equation. I am not quite familiar with this equation but I am starting to see the artistic side of it now. I would not have seen this math equation as art until you pointed out the uniqueness. It would be nice if you talked more about your understanding of the golden ratio though. Overall, your blog is good!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting perspective on the week's topic. I like how you took the connection between math and art and put it into a mathematical context with Euler's equation. I had never considered that artistic side of math, so that was a cool new take on a familiar topic. Great post!
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