Evan Zhu Week 2 Blog Discussion 1C

April 15, 2018

Math + Art

This week’s material really opened my eyes to the huge impact that math has on art. A lot of times art and math are used simultaneously by artists to create their masterpieces. Both subjects have become more and more intertwined. Jennifer Ouelette makes clear how math is used when it comes to the art of making fractals. Ouelette says, “Fractals may seem haphazard at first glance, yet each on is composed of a single geometric pattern repeated thousands of times”. Fractal art is created by calculating fractal objects and representing the calculations as images or animations. Eric Weisstein also explains the Mandelbrot set. Weisstein says, “The term Mandelbrot set is used to refer both to a general class of fractal sets and to a particular instance of such a set. In general, a Mandelbrot set marks the set of points in the complex plane such that the corresponding Julia set is connected and not computable” (Weisstein).

I also learned about the similarities between music and math as both involve structure and form. I played the piano growing up which forced me to learn how to count the beat. I learned about scales, chords, and melodies as well.

Another form of art that uses math to convey the art’s meaning is origami. According to Robert Lang, “applying the basic principles of math are essential requirements in the art of Origami.” He shows this in Robert Lang: The math and magic of origami.

Sources

Lang, Robert. "The math and magic of origami." Robert Lang: The

math and magic of origami | TED Talk | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

Lang, Robert. "Robert J. Lang Origami." Robert J. Lang Origami. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

Ouelette, Jennifer. "Pollock's Fractals." Discover Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

Weisstein, Eric. "Mandelbrot Set." Mandelbrot Set -- from Wolfram MathWorld. N.p., n.d. Web.

        16 Apr. 2017.

Jansen, Theo. "My Creations, a New Form of Life." Theo Jansen: My Creations, a New

Form of Life | TED Talk | TED.com. TED.com, 09 June 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

Evan Zhu Week 1 Blog Discussion C

April 8, 2017

Two Cultures

C.P. Snow seems to take the perspective that scientists are protected from the rest of the world. He takes the side of art over science. “As one would expect, some of the very best scientists had and have plenty of energy and interest to spare, and we came across several who had read everything that literary people talk about. But that’s very rare” (Snow). Snow discusses the strong separation between humanities and sciences and why that is a barrier to solving the world’s problems. 

An apparent separation of these two cultures on campus here at UCLA is the divide between north and south campus. South campus is for the sciences while north campus is for the arts. The students at south campus are seen as the smartest students. There is a stereotype that they separate themselves socially and intellectually from the rest of the students on campus. Kevin Kelly says, “Yet science has always been a bit outside society’s inner circle.” (Kelly). I think that more people are beginning to realize that we need humanities and science to work together in order to progress further. Graham-Rowe states, “I am interested in people who can take the materials of the culture in the arts, literature and science and put them together in their own way” (Graham-Rowe).

Sources

Graham-Rowe, Duncan. "John Brockman: Matchmaking with Science and Art." WIRED

UK, 23 May 2016. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science. American Association for the Advancement

of Science, 13 Feb. 1998. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.

Snow, C.P.  “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” New York:  Cambridge

University Press, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo 34 2001:

121-25. Print.

Wilson, Stephen D. "Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology." 

College Art Association Meetings, New York, New York, 2000. Print.