MATHEMATICS AND ART

Composition, movement, colour, pitch, tone, volume, shape, meaning, intensity, and sound can all, in part, be revealed through mathematics.

Some people's enjoyment of art is primarily through its elements' complex interactions. Music for example uses the medium of sound changing in time which can be appreciated through the recognition of many components that play out during its existence. Music's pitch (how high or low a sound is) and its volume (how loud or quiet) interact with when these elements are present (music's time). A piece of music may also have larger structures that give it shape and form, and all these qualities come together and can be appreciated as beautiful. For those who experience life primarily from an analytic point of view, music might be appreciated mathematically. Indeed, these people may believe that is true for anyone who recognises the qualities I mention in the first short paragraph above. One might re-frame this experience as an appreciation of art's craft: it's care and skill. From this perspective the more sophisticated the interplay of a given art form's elements, the more enriching it might be perceived as.

Although I enjoy structure and form in the arts, I am primarily interested in art's meaning, or how it is meaningful to myself and others. I use the word 'meaning' as it relates to an expression of art that uncovers, defines, or makes known, and 'meaningful' as something more personal and hazy, but nevertheless significant (emotionally or intellectually). For me, the elements of art best serve its purpose, and that is to encourage thought and feeling so that we may better appreciate, understand, and act in the world.

Many works of art are primarily for the pleasure of the senses. These may have a physical and emotional impact, but if they do not encourage me to think as well as feel, their power to affect positive change in any lasting way is limited. When I create or experience art, I wish art not only to excite the body and heart, but the mind too.

We each have our different ways of relating to art. Some do so instinctively, others emotionally, or analytically, There are no right or wrong ways, but it is valuable to appreciate the personal nature of our affinity to art.