Week 1: Math+Art

I never really realized how mathematics and art were related with each other. I guess I just assumed that artists just drew from whatever they imagined, but I was completely wrong.

Out of the many things I learned from lecture, the first was about linear perspective. Filippo Brunelleschi was the first person to make a correct formulation of linear perspective. He understood that there should be a vanishing point in which all parallel lines in a plane converge and with that knowledge, he was able to correctly compute the relation between the length of an object and the length of the picture depending on its distance to the plane of the canvas using mathematical principle. He controlled precisely the position of the spectator so that the geometry was guaranteed to be correct.

The second idea I learned about was from Al Haytham who gave the first correct explanation of vision. He showed that light is reflected from an object in the eye and studied the complete science of vision influencing Renaissance artists 300-400 years later.

Next, Piero della Francesca showed that painting has three principal parts which are drawing, proportion, and coloring. Drawing means the outlines and contours contained in a thing. Proportion is the outlines and contours positioned in proportion in their places. Coloring gives colors as shown in the things, light and dark according to the light that makes them vary.

Lastly, Luca Pacioli studied the golden ratio which is the ratio a:b=b:(a+b). He also studied regular and semiregular polygons. His studies were important to architectural design and contributed to one of his famous works known as Divina proportione in which he included figures from his studies.

I believe that the juxtaposition of mathematics, art, and science is like building a house. You need a strong base foundation in order to build a sturdy and effective house. The foundation would be mathematics and the house is art.

Sources:

Falco, Charles M., and Aimee L. WeintzAllen. "Painted Optics Symposium." N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2016.

Frantz, Marc. "Vanishing Points and Looking at Art." N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2016.

O'Connor, J. J., and E. F. Robertson. "Luca Pacioli." Pacioli Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov." Cole UC online. Youtube, 9 April 2012. Web. 24 June 2016. <http://www.youtube.com/watchv=mMmq5B1LKDg&feature=player_embedded>

Watson, Paul F. "Piero Della Francesca." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 May 2016. Web. 24 June 2016.

Week 1: Two Cultures

Throughout my life, I always believed that the humanities and sciences were separate entities and that there could be no sort of connection between the two. However, after watching the lecture videos and reading the two articles, "Third Culture: Being in Between" by Victoria Vesna and "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" by C.P. Snow, my perspective has changed. I believe now that the two cultures have many shared characteristics. I believe the vast majority of society had the same idea that I had before. Many people believed that the arts and sciences are completely different and should be separated. This is shown through the location of the humanities buildings with the science buildings at UCLA. Among the students, we separate them even further by regarding the humanities as part of North campus and the sciences as part of South campus.

My perspective has shifted in that now, to me, the humanities and sciences are just two cultures and I believe that cultures can and are mixed as seen through the experiences of my life. As an individual who lives in America, I was introduced to many different cultures as I grew up. The friends that I made were not always one specific race or nationality and thus, through my multi ethnic friends, I was exposed to a wide range of cultures. One example could be in terms of food. In the past, I would only eat Korean food, but now I enjoy foods from different cultures.

   Moreover, when I was in high school, I was required to take a foreign language class and so, I chose Mandarin. As I was taking the class, I not only learned how to read, write, and speak in Mandarin, but I also learned about the Chinese culture and even some history of China. Through the learning of Chinese culture, I also found many similarities between Chinese and Korean culture. Overall, I realize now that the humanities and sciences are two cultures that can and have been mixed and share many similarities with each other.

Sources:

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

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

Hua, Sara Lynn. "4 Reasons To Learn Chinese." 4 Reasons To Learn Chinese. N.p., 5 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 June 2016.

Admin, InternChina. "Differences between Chinese and South Korean Culture." InternChina. N.p., 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 22 June 2016.

"The World & I Diversity in America." The World & I Diversity in America. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 June 2016.