Week 2 Blog: Math and Art

Art and science are seen in conjunction to one another throughout history. Personally, I remember learning about the vanishing point in middle school and was intrigued by the art piece of history. Learning about math and art now eight years later and how they work in conjunction with each other allowed me to recognize the interweaving of different subjects. Math and art intersect with each other through calculations to design objects, shapes, perspectives, and capture a moment in reality. It is even more intriguing to me that all these calculations and precise measurements create wonderful and beautiful shapes as art. For example, through the vanishing point, we are able to use precise measurements and lines through math to create a realistic picturesque depiction of a scene. The golden ratio utilizes the precise measurements for the visual aesthetic, making visuals appear relaxing and satisfying. I thought that the use of the floor tiles as a grid in science and architecture is also interesting as it uses the mathematical preciseness of ratios to teach science and create art.

Fig. 1: Vanishing Point (getdrawings.com)

Fig. 2: Perspective drawing; tile floor (friendlyarts.net)

Looking further into the golden ratio, Da Vinci famously created the Vitruvian Man, in which the golden ratio is used. Da Vinci studied the science of human anatomy in order to draw these perfect proportions. As he drew the man using the golden ratio, he was fascinated by the symmetry of human anatomy. Using the precise proportions of the ratio, he was able to calculate the perfect proportions for a human body, creating the Vitruvian Man with 16 poses being seen simultaneously. The golden ratio was portrayed through art and fascination.

Fig. 3: Vitruvian man (fineartamerica.com)

After reading the readings and viewing the lectures, it was intriguing that the artists use math to create these perfect figures and art. They also use different angles and perspectives to interpret what art is like. The juxtaposition of math, science, and art appears in their stereotypical ways where math and science are closely correlated while art is an expression, even though they could all be integrated to provide a unique source of education.


Works Cited

ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. HANSEBOOKS, 2023. 

Ornes, Stephen. “Gallery: Beautiful Works of Art Are Generated by Austere Mathematical Rules.” Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/gallery-beautiful-works-of-art-are-generated-by-austere-mathematical-rules/. 

Richman-Abdou, Kelly. “The Significance of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Famous ‘Vitruvian Man’ Drawing.” My Modern Met, 7 July 2023, mymodernmet.com/leonardo-da-vinci-vitruvian-man/#The_Vitruvian_Man_Today. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecture: Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.”

“Understanding Architectural Grids: How They Can Improve Your Design Process.” Archisoup, 12 Feb. 2024, www.archisoup.com/architectural-grids. 

Images Citation

Vanishing Point drawing. Getdrawings.Com, https://getdrawings.com/get-drawing#vanishing-point-drawing-64.jpg. 

Perspective Drawing of Tile Floor. Friendlyart.Net, https://friendlyarts.net/Asdo/perspct.html. 

The Vitruvian Man. Fineartamerica.Com, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-vitruvian-man-original-painting-original-art.html .

Comments

  1. Olivia WeisigerApril 11, 2024 at 8:28 PM

    Hi Gillian! You did a great job summarizing a few ways mathematics and art intersect (through the vanishing point, ratios, the golden ratio, etc.). Since math occurs naturally, for instance, the Fibonacci Sequence as the number of spirals in a pine cone, it seems simple that it must be used in art to depict the natural world around us. Additionally, I really enjoyed your point that artists use “different angles and perspectives to interpret what art is like.” If I understand you correctly, then this is an interesting notion that beyond using math to reproduce nature with their art, they can go beyond what is observable and create an unseen depiction or take on their environment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. danielabenitezDESMA9April 14, 2024 at 6:30 PM

    Hi Gillian! I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week. It made me think of how when I am drawing or painting, whatever aspect of art, I never subconsciously am thinking about any science aspects of the piece. However, of course, I am not an artist. Do you think such science aspects are captured in art by everyone, whether it be consciously or subconsciously? Additionally, do you think contemporary artists in today's age are being as meticulous as incorporating things such as the golden ratio or perspective drawing? Whenever I come across a video in which the artist is making contemporary art, to me, it looks like they are placing things randomly on their canvas or whatever feels right to them.

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