Saturday, April 11, 2015

Unit 2: Mathematics + Art

Mathematical Aesthetic ≠ Artistic Aesthetic:

Beauty in Method


Much of this week’s examples for the intersection of Math and Art seems to be math influencing art, and not so much Art influencing Mathematics. This led me to analyze this disappointing one-way influence with greater scrutiny, as I have been trying to figure this grey area where they converge in non-trivial ways. Since mathematical beauty is fundamentally insulated from sensory aesthetic, experiencing work through mediums for the intersections of Art and Mathematics heavily favors artistic aesthetic.Though there are plenty of places that Mathematics has influenced the Arts, I was very excited to find the purest and most balanced connection the two fields have is in the process and not the medium of the final result. 

To start off where I noticed that only trivially does mathematics and art meet is in these middle places, often through a medium. The fact that these works have a medium can explain the preference for the strength of its artistic beauty over its mathematical beauty. In her video lecture “Math Intro” Professor Vesna says “A lot of people in the arts say they hate mathematics, but they’re actually using computers so you’re using mathematics whether you like it or not. And mathematics are pretty much driving our reality through computers. So the connection through Art and Science is through mathematics in Art. This is what’s bringing Art and Science together, it’s computers through Mathematics.” [2]  This interaction with Mathematics through a medium such as computers is a secondary, mediated interaction. Part of this inherently misses the point of Mathematics. Mathematics can be without medium and done completely in our minds. In contrast to Professor Vesna’s claim, I believe that one could use computers and be completely oblivious of mathematical reasoning. I don’t think using a machine that is built off a system such as mathematics makes you any more conscious of the underlying system as driving a car means you’re using petroleum chemical engineering, or living in a house means one is using the ideas of architecture.

Geometric Painting by Sol Lewitt
<https://schmellie.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/dscn82161.jpg>
Structural Sketch by Buckminster Fuller
<http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/655/w500h420/CRI_59655.jpg>

In the examples of “math art” brought up in the materials, most of the actual mathematics involved does not go very far beyond Geometry, Calculus and Real Number Algebras influencing the perspectives (as in Cubist Paintings [3] or for the premise of Flatland [4]), forms (as in the structures of Buckminster Fuller), and patterns (Sol Lewitt) we experience in the Arts. Though visually and conceptually quite impressive, of the many fields of mathematics, this is but a small sliver of a smaller subset of what the term Mathematics encompasses.

Connections Between the Various Fields of Mathematics
<http://i.stack.imgur.com/sL17t.png>


The most interesting intersection of rigorous Mathematics and compelling Art came from Dr. Daniel Snaith, better know as the mastermind behind the electronic music act Caribou. Snaith holds a PhD in number theory from Imperial College London as well as being a successful recording artist with over 6 full length album releases and multiple international tours. [5] Being highly involved in both advanced Mathematics and musical composition, he found the strongest connection between the process of solving mathematical problems and the process of creating music. “All of mathematics is a mental construction. The remarkable thing is that you start with something…and then you build this immense elaborate logical construction out of it in a way that is really creative.” [6]. In a separate interview he further expounds on these ideas of Mathematics being a highly creative activity: “You might assume that with his academic maths background, Dan’s own lecture topic would be something about the connection between maths and music, how the likes of Bach and Schoenberg utilised (sic.) numerical patterns in their composition. However, Dan’s not feeling it. “To me, that misses the point of maths and it misses the point of music. Pure mathematics at research level is not about sums; it flowers into this whole creative subject. If there’s any real similarity between maths and music, it’s that with both, you’re fumbling around and using your intuition to try to fit things together.” [7] The convoluted process of experimenting and trying to make disparate pieces fit together that exists in both advanced mathematics and art creation is a fascinating convergence point of the two seemingly disparate activities.

Most of the correlations between Mathematics and Art is often doing a disservice to the intrinsic beauty of the other, Art's beauty is primarily external through the senses, Mathematics beauty is internal in the mind. Mathematics and Art can not only converge through mediums such as paintings, sculptures, writings, music and other various nouns, but also as a verb, in the process as a performative action behind solving proofs and creating inspired work. 


Works Cited 



[1] "Math is All Around Us." <http://www.slideshare.net/mrsd8/math-is-all-around-us-8728078.>

[2] Vesna, Victoria. "Math Intro" YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHiL9iskUWM>.

[3] Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. "The Fourth dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion". <Leonardo, Vol. 17, No. 3. (1984), pp. 205-210.> 

[4] Abbott, E. A. "Flatland." 1884. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/eaa/FL.HTM>.
[5] Buzzard, Kevin. "Notes by Me". <http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~buzzard/maths/research/notes/>.

[6] "Decoding Caribou’s Divine Math". <http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/caribou-our-love-interview-dan-snaith-merge/>.

[7] "Caribou's Dan Snaith finds the formula for success with Swim." <http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/nov/20/caribou-swim-dan-snaith>. 





4 comments:

  1. Hi David!

    I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on how mathematics can influence art — just as much (if not more…) than art influences mathematics. I agree with your argument about computers; as an english major myself, I use computers all the time for writing papers and doing research, yet I never really think about the fact that I’m “using mathematics” when I’m on the computer. As you say, I’m “not conscious of the underlying [mathematical] system” when I’m using the computer. As proof, when there’s a problem my computer and I’m not able to fix it, I take it to the geniuses at Apple who are aware of that system and who CAN fix it. :)

    I also think it’s really fascinating to think of mathematics as beautiful "within the mind." It always amazes me to think about the fact that these historic equations and formulas once started as simple idea in one person’s mind. To me, that's where math derives its beauty.

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  2. I've had similar thoughts about the one-sided nature of the math/tec/sci influence on art but as I read through you blog I think I may have stumbled upon different way to see things. Firstly Math is a technical language that is used to described real world phenomena (which I belive is one of the things that makes math beautiful), therefore when we think of math influencing art (such as the vanishing point or artistic computer programs) the art is actually influencing the math as well because now we can use mathematical ideas to describe the world we live in, or in the case of computers we can use math to help us create art, and that defiantly adds to the beauty of mathematics. In addition, the fact that we can use math in these new ways is inspiring to mathematicians/scientists/inventors who then may go on the use mathematics in new and completely different ways. Especially in the case of the vanishing point I think that these artists discovered something new about optics and the human brain through an artistic medium, which is defiantly art influencing science. In addition I think everything we perceive is completely in our head (math, music, art, science etc..) as we need our brain to interpret pressure waves as sound, electromagnetic waves as light and the universe as exiting in the first place, so in that way I believe the beauty of all things are intrinsically connected.

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  3. Hi David, I really enjoyed reading your blog! I liked how you brought up the fact that math and art also converge on the less tangible level of thought. It was interesting that you brought up the one-sided nature of math influences on art. I agree that we can find the most balanced relationship between the two in the process; if it was at found at any other point, I am sure the two disciplines would consequently be taught together. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Hi David, I like your idea to think out of the box. Not only mathematics can influence art, but also art can influence mathematics. Your essay is also thorough with examples and critically argued. Great job!

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