Week 2

This week I've learned how numbers are used in my everyday life and how they appear everywhere in nature. In this week’s lecture we focused on how artists have used mathematics in their work. Such as the use of perspective, proportions, and the golden ratio. Perspective is the images of all things that are transmitted to the eye by pyramidal lines. For example the floor covered in square tiles by Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) leads to a single vanishing point in the center of the piece. Proportions is when lines, angles, and contours are positioned in proportion in their places, this creates a three dimensional point of view. For example in The Flagellation of Christ by Piero Della Francesca (1492) we can see how the figures on the right are bigger, or proportionate, to the figures on the left thus creating a third dimension. Then there is the golden ratio, defined as the division of lines where the shorter part is to the longer part, as the longer part is to the whole. For example, the golden ratio is seen in the Athenian Parthenon, built by the ancient greeks.

https://www.google.com/searchq=tile+floor+art+vanishing+point+black+and+white&biw=1308&bih=
665&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifg6fpoXMAhUT5mMKHY-YCXoQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=YDX4W4axbIRzWM%3A

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Piero__The_Flagellation.jpg&imgrefurl
=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellation_of_Christ_(Piero_della_Francesca)&h=775&w=1106&tbnid=pZRFZBDKpvJXyM:&tbnh=
160&tbnw=228&docid=o9Xb8LhNwx4CdM&itg=1&usg=__pPlOpZIQveKqytcy6nmsvaLPRSw=

http://emptyeasel.com/2009/01/20/a-guide-to-the-golden-ratio-aka-golden-section-or-golden-mean-for-artists/

Furthermore, the Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) used his art to show more obviously the use of the golden ratio. He painted in an “abstract style of lines, geometric shapes, and primary colors to express reality, nature, and logic” (Unit 2 View) from a different point of view. He revolutionized the form of using basic shapes to create multiple combinations, the golden ratio is repeatedly seen in his work. I believe he was trying to convey the meaning that different forms of mathematics is commonly shown throughout nature.

https://www.google.com/searchq=piet+mondrian&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjI24i2p4XMAhVCy2
MKHTkDA10Q_AUIBygB&biw=1308&bih=665#tbm=isch&q=piet+mondrian+famous+paintings&imgrc=tuQC04cPMMcC_M%3A

In order to make a piece more aesthetically appealing, the use of mathematics is important to an artist. Especially during the Renaissance Piero de la Francesca explained how the use of drawing, shading, contouring, and using the vanishing point can give the viewer three-dimensional look at a two-dimensional object. Even now with the advancement in computers and coding we can even create five-dimensional works of art. 

http://platonicrealms.com/minitexts/Mathematical-Art-Of-M-C-Escher/

Although art and science are on two different sides of the academic spectrum. Whereas art is creative and abstract while math is more logical and factual. They are even processed in different hemispheres of the brain yet together they are create a more visually appealing work of art. 

https://www.google.com/searchq=computer+art&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7yNHQp4XMAhUXz2MKHZ6fCH4Q_AUIBygB&biw=
1308&bih=665#tbm=isch&q=how+math+inspires+art&imgrc=y3vtVSnEOJU2fM%3A

Citations:

Vesna, Victoria. "Unit 2 View." Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov. UCLA, Los  Angeles. 7 Apr. 2016. Lecture.

Mize, Dianne. "A Guide to the Golden Ratio." Empty Easel. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

"Piet Mondrian Biography." The Art Story. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Smith, B. Sidney. "The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher." Platonic Realms Minitexts. Platonic Realms, 13 Mar 2014. Web. 7 Apr 2016.

Frantz, Marc. "Lesson 3: Vanishing Points and Looking at Art." Department of Computer Science. University of Central Florida, 2000. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.