My first two years of college, I lived in the dorms with my
friend, who was majoring in music. Throughout those two years, she had to take
a Music Theory class, part of which involved analyzing music from the
perspective of mathematics. Prior to listening in on her group study sessions,
I had never realized just how closely related music and math are. This week’s
lecture and readings served to open my mind up even more to the relationship
between different forms of art and mathematics.
 |
| Figure 1. A spectrogram of a violin waveform, showing how math can be related to music. |
I especially enjoyed the portion of the lecture that dealt
with perspective in art. I have never had much skill with drawing, but the one
technique that always helped me whenever I attempted it was to use geometric shapes
and the concepts of perspective as discussed in lecture. The ability to use
concrete mathematical formulas to create completely unique works of art is
truly amazing, and really serves to show just how well the two subjects can
blend together. Returning to the discussion of the two cultures from last week,
I believe that this is another example of why art and science should not be
completely separated.
 |
| Figure 2. An example of a painting where the concept of perspective can be seen in everything from the squares on the floor to the shrinking of the arches in the background. |
One of my other favorite examples of the combination of math
and art is in the use of fractals, which was mentioned in lecture. Fractals can
be described mathematically, and are seen everywhere in nature, as well as in
art. Hearing a bit about fractals in lecture inspired me to do a little more
research into where they can be observed in nature.
 |
| Figure 3. One of my favorite examples of fractals in nature: the inside of a nautilus shell. |
Additionally, I found the discussion of the fourth dimension
Henderson’s Geometry in Modern Art to
be particularly interesting, as I have always been somewhat fascinated by the
idea of a fourth dimension. It was enlightening to read about it from the
perspective of art rather than just math, which is what I have always been more
familiar and more comfortable with.
Works Cited
"14 Amazing Fractals Found in Nature." MNN.
24 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
Henderson, Linda. "The Fourth Dimension and
Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion." Leonardo 17.3
(1984): 205-10. J Stor. The MIT Press. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
<http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0024-094X(1984)17:32.0.CO;2-1>.
"Music and Mathematics." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
Raphael. The
School of Athens. Digital image. Op-art.co.uk. Web.
"Spirals." Fractal Foundation Online Course.
Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
I agree with you when you say that before living with your roommate, you didn't think about how music and math are related; I too found that very interesting. I'm not sure what your roommate was studying in her music theory classes, but after this week's lesson it is eye opening how many musical aspects incorporate math. Not only is math used when writing and preforming music, but it is also a key factor in where music is played. Due to the nature of my major, I was especially intrigued with the math used during the architecture design stages of constructing symphony halls. The math behind the wave oscillations and how sound travels were two very interesting components of math and music working together, much like you and roommate.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I really connect to the ideas you discussed with geometric shapes. I believe that geometry is a prime example of the combination of math and art. Tessellations are one type of art that I value, which inevitably uses shapes and such in order to produce the wanted image. Thanks for sharing your insight on the issue, I loved reading about it.
ReplyDelete