Week 2 | Math + Art

    There is a science to art, an art to science, and, thus, a science behind why we find things beautiful. Consider one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal. Absolutely stunning through and through, but it is more complex than that. Why is the Taj Mahal beautiful? The answer is simple: its architectural ratios are mathematically pleasing to the eye. Architecture Daily states that “it can be verified in several architectural works … [that] the width and height of the facade follow the golden proportion.” This not only applies to architecture, but also people. The people we think are the most beautiful boil down to numbers and statistics. According to ScienceNewsExplore’s Psychology column, we tend to find symmetry in faces to be beautiful. Symmetry all boils down to math, different percentages of matching features with others, placements and ratios, the Fibonacci sequence, and the likes of such.

What Is the Fibonacci Sequence and How Does It Relate to Architecture? | ArchDaily

    Math doesn’t just dictate what makes things beautiful, but math also makes beautiful things, music being one of them. There are websites in which we can observe math creating aesthetically pleasing sounds using mathematical patterns strewn about the internet. Margaret Crable, author of  “Musical numbers: Math and music nurture a deep and complex relationship,” writes about how “math is woven into the very essence of the art form [music], from the way we organize musical scales to the physics that dictates an instrument’s sound. Learning one may even enhance one’s ability to master the other.” 

Perceive Believe — An Analysis of the prime number cross and its...

    Music is such an integral part of pop culture yet one never stops to thinks about how there’s a very specific and mathematical science to how we perceive it and what we prefer music-wise. Math also inherently creates art, which we see in fractals, which are essentially “never-ending patterns” according to the Fractal Foundation. We end with a quote from Edwin A. Abbott’s romance novel, “Flatland”: “To see the shapes and colors, it is necessary to imagine the original figure formed by these pieces; for one piece alone, however, skillfully made, will produce but a small effect. It is in the combination of different pieces and the way in which they are arranged that the true art lies.” I believe the takeaway from the novel, and from this post, should be that in every abundance of genres of art, there is math, and that where there is math, where there is science, there is beauty. 
MATH 1120 Student Art Showcase ...

Sources:
Brasil, Equipe ArchDaily. “What Is the Fibonacci Sequence and How Does It Relate to Architecture?” ArchDaily, ArchDaily, 24 Jan. 2022, www.archdaily.com/975380/what-is-the-fibonacci-sequence-and-how-does-it-relate-to-architecture
Stevens, Alison Pearce. “What Makes a Pretty Face?” Science News Explores, 5 July 2022, www.snexplores.org/article/what-makes-pretty-face
“What Are Fractals?” Fractal Foundation, fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-are-fractals/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024. https://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-are-fractals/
ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. HANSEBOOKS, 2023. 
Liu, Michael. “Musical Numbers: Math and Music Nurture a Deep and Complex Relationship.” News and Events, 22 Feb. 2024, https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/relationship-between-music-and-math/


Comments

  1. Arianna HernandezApril 13, 2024 at 7:21 PM

    Hi Angelina, first off I really enjoyed reading your blog post! It was very insightful and even after watching the lectures and doing the readings I still gained new information. I love that you mentioned architectural ratios. Upon my individual research I found so many interesting pieces of art that involved very technical designs. They utilized science and math as key components to having new inventions of art designs. I see that you mentioned the art of music having math take part. I had not seen anything mention music nor had I thought of that. You mentioned "musical numbers". This makes sense because many genres of music like R&B, Jazz, or even country have similar sounds which is the role of musical numbers. The last sentence in your post was so beautifully said. It definitely opened my mind to the roles that art, science, and math all play within one another.

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