Week 2: Math + Art

After hearing this week’s lecture and getting through the readings over the week, I was able to understand the different ways math incorporated with art, and moreover with the view of life- “Perspective”.  I learned that Consciousness triggers apprehension, and Apprehension allows for understanding of Perspectives of the world. This perspective was then digested by Mathematics into finally creating a final creation of Art.

  In Linda D. Henderson’s article, she inserts Rice Pereira’s statement that the two contrasting concepts of ‘Development of human consciousness’ and ‘Apprehension of space’ are actually parallel to one another. Personally, I was able to experience this concept as I worked throughout the week after reading this material. When my consciousness awakened, my apprehension of space was triggered; I was able to allow different viewpoints of geometrical-mathematical perspectives from my literal point of standing. When I would sit at a café on campus, I would look up to be able to imagine walkways and buildings in a two-dimensional landscape with calculable degrees of angles, moreover its size/formation relative to its distance. This concept was demonstrated by Edwin A. Abbott’s “Flatland” reading, as he calls the world a “Flatland” from his apprehension that the world is like a sheet of paper with straight lines, triangles, squares, pentagons, and hexagons that move freely like shadows.

The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1481 Leonaldo Da Vinci 

This form of “Perspective” was introduced in Dr. Vesna’s lecture as she defined it as a mathematical system for representing a three dimensional space on a two dimensional flat surface layout. Leonardo da Vincis’ famed art pieces were demonstrated as the perfect example as one of the first use of Mathematical formulas implemented in creating each prominent piece of art.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Adoration of the Magi” clearly depicts his apprehension of space and artistic expression of the perspective using Mathematics, in which he used horizontal lines, orthogonal, and vanishing points as its instruments.

Perspectival Study for The Adoration of the
Magi, c. 1481 Leonaldo Da Vinci

 I was more than impressed how such a new idea of consciousness and apprehension of space have triggered for this “natural perspective” as introduced by Leonardo Da Vinci, and how his works were used in all three genres of Art, Mathematics, and Science. Such use of Mathematics in calculative angles and formulas to analyze different concepts in the world was adopted by the scientists in understanding not only the Physiological-apprehensions but also of the understanding of nature within the field of sciences- using mathematics, but defined by art.

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Sources:

Abbott, Edwin A. "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions." Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884): n. pag. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Da Vinci, Leonardo. "Museum of Science, Boston." Exploring Linear Perspective. Museum of Science, 1997. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. "The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion." Leonardo 17.3 (1984): 205-10. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Mason, Freddie. "The Diagnostic Scans of Leonardo Da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi, by AHA Tutor Freddie Mason." Art History Abroad. Art History Abroad, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Powell, Phill. "DMA TECH CAMPS AT UCLA, Where Is Ucla Campus? | Digital Media Academy." Digital Media Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Week 1. Two Cultures

Blog Post 1

I guess the best description for my stance in this continuing quarrel of the matter of "Two Cultures" -introduced by C.P. Snow in 1959- may be that, I want to be a believer of the possibility and existence of that middle ground, like a bridge or even like a "third culture" in which Kevin Kelly mentions in his article. Through the article "Third Culture", Kelly expresses that technology could actually be that third culture separate to but integrating the two cultures, in which differed slightly from the form introduced by C.P. Snow's in 1964. 

["Bridge Between Two Human Minds" by Richard Tuschman]

Although C.P. Snow strongly emphasized the drastically contrasted concepts of such "two cultures", of the Arts versus the Sciences, I believe that depending on certain perspectives towards the issue, the two cultures may not be so strictly separated from one another. 

In the West, U.S. especially, I believe math is not entirely math, and I believe science is not entirely science (whatever form of science you may interpret it to be implied). I believe math is literature in use of numerical language, and I believe science is the description of a natural or unnatural 

phenomenon defined through literature. 

Thinking about this topic for several days, it was rather hard for me to enjoin myself to one category of the two contrasted cultures, as battle-like as it seems. However, this constant implication of such concept in my life was more than eye-opening to the different symbolic ways of my life and of academics.

[Science as Art, "Meteorite Pop Art"© AMNH/D. Ebel]

Working at a law firm as a paralegal, and studying Asian-Humanities in UCLA, I write motions, agreements and many more documents requiring tens of pages each day. In this, I have to say that literature cannot be set as such a separate culture on its own-as art-, but rather a part of both two –or three-, cultures; just as the middle ground, like a bridge, or even like a “third culture” relative to C.P. Snow’s introduced theme of the two cultures. 

Writing persuasive documents, the facts are like supportive systems to a flowing body of words written to get to the heart of the reader, in this case the judge. Similar to Prof. Victoria Vesna’s example of using “Poetic License as a tool” of Sokal and Briemont, perhaps we can simplify this situation first and ponder, could the “two cultures” possibly and actually be ‘One culture’ and ‘One Family’ with two fundamental embryos within?

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Sources

Huxley, Thomas. "Science and Literature Are Not Two Things, but Two Sides of One Thing." Like Success. LikeSuccess, n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture" Science 13 February 1998: Vol. 279 no. 5353 pp. 992-993. Web.

Parry, By Wynne. "Science as Art: A Gallery." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 23 June 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Tuschman, Richard. "Image: 433305, Caption: Bridge between Two Human Minds." Stock Illustration. Richard Tuschman, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.