Week 2: Math and Art

Mathematics has been a long-standing staple of art production, no matter if artists knew it or not. Dr. Vesna introduced this connection through the artistical use of linear perspective, golden ratio, Fibonacci sequence. During the Renaissance period (15th - 17th century), artists were able to explicitly explain the mathematical principle of perspective. Brunelleschi, most like influence by Al Hatham of the east, established the vanishing point at which through the power of invisible lines converging into a central point and proper use of scaling (Vesna, 2012). Artists were then able to use this geometric idea to illustrate the 3-dimensional space on a flat surface.

Brunelleschi Baptistry with linear perspective found in https://zttosha.com/perspective-theory-filippo-brunelleschi/

Las Maninas by Diego Velázquez from Museo Del Prado

A great example of the use of perspective is Las Maninas by Diego Velázquez, created in 1656. Every corner of this painting has a different purpose. At first glance, the viewers seem to have interrupted a scene taking place with the princess of Spain stands at the center, while an artist was painting. A reflection of the king and queen can be seen in the background and another person had just stopped by the doorway to also pause for a moment to reflect on what’s happening. The viewer themselves are even almost confused about what’s going on due to the characters seem to look back onto, yet the very position of the viewers is questionable. The many questions of the artist’s conception of perspective when producing this painting were explored in a computer rendition done by David G. Storka and Yasuo Furuichib, perfectly meddling an algorithmic method to explaining the creation of the human mind.

A computer rendering of view position for the painting (Stork and Furuichi)

Kate Mckinnon perfectly sums up the pursuit of humans by stating people are “driven to measure.” Mckinnon values the physical practice in beading to expand the envelope of the human experience. No matter how much mathematics and computer models can replicate art, this is limited to the algorithm inputted by a human being. This week really emphasized the beauty of the human mind to me. It is astonishing how nothing can compare to the originality and creativity that a person can produce. Science is a close second. We often pride ourselves on the ability to think, explain, and name the occurrences of the natural world, yet our expressive display of how we perceive the world is unique, while science constantly attempts to catch up with such ideation.

Kate Mckinnon with a necklace she personally created found in https://www.interweave.com/article/beading/contemporary-geometric-beadwork-update/

References:

Lang, Robert, director. The Math and Magic of Origami. TED, www.ted.com/talks/robert_lang_the_math_and_magic_of_origami.

“Las Meninas - The Collection.” The Collection - Museo Nacional Del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/las-meninas/9fdc7800-9ade-48b0-ab8b-edee94ea877f.

Mckinnon, Kate. “Contemporary Geometric Beadwork: An Update.” Interweave, 1 July 2019, www.interweave.com/article/beading/contemporary-geometric-beadwork-update/.

McKinnon, Kate. “Kate McKinnon - Math and Art.” UCLA Art|Sci Center . UCLA Art|Sci Center , 5 Apr. 2021.

Smarthistoryvideos, director. Linear Perspective: Brunelleschi's Experiment. YouTube, YouTube, 20 Nov. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkNMM8uiMww&t=31s&ab_channel=Smarthistory.

Stork, David G., and Yasuo Furuichi. “Computer Graphics Synthesis for Inferring Artist Studio Practice: an Application to Diego VeláZquez's Las Meninas[.” The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality 2009, 2009, doi:10.1117/12.806264.

“Velázquez, Las Meninas (Video).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/reformation-counter-reformation/v/vel-zquez-las-meninas-c-1656.

Vesna, Victoria. Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov. YouTube, YouTube, 9 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg&ab_channel=UCOnline.

zttosha9. “Perspective Theory - Filippo Brunelleschi.” ZT TOSHA ART, 10 Dec. 2018, zttosha.com/perspective-theory-filippo-brunelleschi/.