Mathematics, the Connection Between Art and Science Essay

Although there are many differences that set art and science apart, they share one undeniable commonality. This bond that is present between what is otherwise considered as polar opposites is mathematics. As shown in Professor Vesna’s lecture, mathematics is imperative to the development of art. Through math, artists have come to understand perspective, proportion, and geometrics. In terms of science, mathematics is the foundation which every theory stands upon. Nature, humans, and the digital world would have been impossible to comprehend without numbers to bridge the gap between the unknown and the understood. Truly, mathematics is ubiquitous and continues to prove its importance to this day. A novel amalgamation that consists of mathematics, art, and science is music. Milkman, an artist of the mash-up genre, is a musician that samples different songs and digitally combines them to form a brand new track. In a way, his work is described as an example of cross synthesis or convultion which according to Burk is some aspect of one sound superimposed on another. To harmoniously combine two different songs, one must fully understand every possible correlation in terms of rhythm, melody, and lyrics. And with mathematics and science making the technology available, the art of mashing up songs has become readily accessible and requires only creativity to create the next hit single. Mathematics has almost an infinite range of applications in society today. For example, Robert Lang presents mathematics as part of the core that drives origami, the art of folding paper. Lang shows that complexity is irrelevant; with mathematics to dictate origami, anything can be shaped. Because of its practicality of compacting large things, origami is used in various sectors of science which include telescope lens packing and heart stents. Another example of math’s prevalence is Theo Jansen’s presentation on his kinetic sculptures. His biological art, able to move independently, essentially redefines the wheel. Not only is it artistic but also it is a masterpiece of engineering; just a simple push can propel a massively heavy structure across difficult terrain. It is evident that math not only facilitates the evolution of artistic creations but also helps apply them as potential solutions to problems of today.