Sunday 26 June 2016

Week 2: Math and Art

This week's material was especially intriguing when I reflect back to the Discrete Math course I took last quarter. Although the course covered mostly abstract induction, probability, and graph theory, the notion of math being the foundation for art was very logical. My favorite piece of material from this week's resources was Edwin Abbott's Flatland illustrations and stories, in which he uses mathematical diagrams to depict the relationship between members of society in Victorian England in order to "advance the cause of education".

Abbott's graphic illustration of men's and women's doors
I admire the creativity, artistic talents, and above all, the sense of purpose in his work. I also found the Ron Eglash's African Fractals to be beautiful and eccentric, and the properties of repetition and sequence that I learned in my Discrete Math course really came into play.

Eglash's demonstration of African fractals
Lastly, I loved the idea of math+music, and the manipulation and synthesis of properties of sound brought me back to a video that I recently watched, where a pianist recreated the irrational number pi into a piece of music, by converting each digit into a note of the octave, and adding harmonies on the left hand.
 

The topic of math and science first brought me back to a purchase I made online, of a 3D-printed stereographic projection made by Henry Segerman, a Mathematician and mathematical artist working in 3 dimensional geometry and topology. Using properties of dimensional analysis and astrology, the project maps a grid plane through a sphere using a light source.This is a perfect example of how math influences art, when the art piece itself is an aesthetically pleasing representation of a scientific concept. Through the artist's own calculation and design, he was able to bring this concept to life with a 3D printer.

Grid (Stereographic Projection) by @henryseg

Lastly, I believe that the juxtaposition between math, art, and science could be explained through a mathematical concept itself. Mathematical concepts are a subset of the set of science, however, each subset within science contains some elements of math. Art is another distinct set that shares common elements with both math and art, as many art pieces exhibit influences of math and science. Fractals, the golden ratio, and mathematical origami are all examples of elements from the union of all three subjects.

Square, A. "Section 2 Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland." 2, Flatland, by E. A. Abbott, 1884. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2016.  
 
"Music and Computers." Music and Computers. Columbia University, n.d. W
eb. 27 June 2016.  
 
Eglash, Ron. "African Fractals." African Fractals. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2016.
 
Segerman, Henry. "Grid (stereographic Projection) by Henryseg on Shapeways." Shapeways.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2016. 
 
Lang, Robert J. "Robert J. Lang Origami." Robert J. Lang Origami. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2016.
 

3 comments:

  1. The portion of your blog that stood out to me most was your paragraph about music and math. Prior to reading this blog, I also saw the video and was shocked by how a sequence of numbers can produce such an enriching and beautiful music piece. I was amazed by how the diverse applications mathematics has on even music. I have also never seen or heard of a stereographic projection. After further examining the piece, I am curious as to how a spherical object can create a 2-Dimensional plane of light. This simple yet complicated artwork speaks to the many things today's society can do by combining mathematics and art.

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  2. I really enjoyed the connection that you made to discrete mathematics. I think there are a lot of connections to be made between the two subjects. Just to give an example consider a complete graph of order 6. If you color each edge blue or red then your graph will contain either a blue triangle or a red triangle. Results like this can be illustrated in beautiful ways and can remind us that order can rise out of disorder.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really enjoyed the connection that you made to discrete mathematics. I think there are a lot of connections to be made between the two subjects. Just to give an example consider a complete graph of order 6. If you color each edge blue or red then your graph will contain either a blue triangle or a red triangle. Results like this can be illustrated in beautiful ways and can remind us that order can rise out of disorder.

    ReplyDelete