The idea of math influencing and being an integral part of art is an idea that for the most part seemed ridiculous to me; however, history proves otherwise. As far back as the Renaissance, artists have utilized art as a technique in completing their art works. If not for math, perhaps Da Vinci works of art would have looked a lot differently than we know them today. Da Vinci's work was undoubtedly influenced by his mathematics background. From working from a linear perspective and adhering to the golden ratio, Da Vinci used math to create a balance in his art. To the observer, perhaps the influence of math is not as obvious in paintings like the Mona Lisa, however The Vitruvian Man is clearly focused on proportions.
 |
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg |
Today, the influence that math has on art is still subtle, with most people missing the connection that art and math have. However, there are more museums and exhibits today that aim to reveal the ties between the two. For example, the Exploratorium in San Francisco has different interactive exhibits that allow guests to use math to create forms of art. The Angle of Repose exhibit allows visitors to spin a disk full of different colored sands over an aluminum plate. The aluminum plate has raised bumps, allowing visitors to create unique patterns by changing the angle of repose that the sand hits the different bumps at.
 |
| Source: http://exs.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/angle-of-repose/ |
Other exhibits like the Floating Numbers exhibit at the Jewish Museum in Berlin literally use numbers to create art. By arranging the numbers over each other and in different patterns, they are able to create beautiful shapes. At the same time, this exhibit allows users to interact with the numbers by rearranging them or clicking on them to reveal more information about the particular number.
 |
| Source: http://www.artcom.de/en/projects/project/detail/floatingnumbers/ |
Sources:
"Angle of Repose." Exploratorium Exhibit Services RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
<http://exs.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/angle-of-repose/>.
"Floating.numbers." ART COM : . N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.<http://www.artcom.de/en/projects/project/detail/floatingnumbers/>.
"Mathematics and Art." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_and_art>.
Vesna, Victoria. " Mathematics, Perspective, Time, Space. "DESMA 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mMmq5B1LKDg. Lecture.
I liked how you told us about the different museums that incorporate both math and science. I don't know very much about either subject so knowing that there are several museums that combine these topics was pretty cool to me. I enjoy museums and love learning new things and after learning about how math and art intertwine, it would be fun visiting one of these museums.
ReplyDelete