WEEK 2: MATH + ART

Early art represented life through the use of two dimensions. This can most commonly be seen through the misunderstanding of the concept of perspective and the use of depth. Artists placed objects above and bellow one another to display what was further and closer to the viewer. As objects receded in space they moved higher up the canvas even though they stayed the same size as the objects closer to the artist. This can be seen easily in pre-renaissance art as presented below. Notice how objects move up the canvas as they move into the distance.

http://leblanc.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Renaissance+Art

With the coming of the Renaissance, perspective was discovered and applied with art that would show nature in all its beauty. Artists tried to glorify their surroundings through elaborate interpretations of animals and landscapes. This would incorporate the third dimension and objects grew smaller through space. Notice how the trees become smaller as they follow the bank into the distance.

http://www.mirjavahala.com/Landscapes%20Hor%20page%202.html

The introduction of the fourth dimension was realized with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity was proposed. This of course was the addition of time to length, width and height. This can be best understood through the reading of Linda D. Henderson's article on the relation of geometry within art. During the early 1900's in the time of Modern Art avant garde artists such as Picasso attempted to present the dimension of time by showing more than the appropriate number of sides of an object to suggest rotation or movement. The artist Delauney demonstrate this rotation well through his piece of the Eiffel Tower.

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~fellows/hart206/cubism.htm

Works Cited
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~fellows/hart206/cubism.htm
http://www.mirjavahala.com/Landscapes%20Hor%20page%202.html
http://leblanc.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Renaissance+Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1575193?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102770821383