Thirty thousand years ago in Chauvet, France, pre-historic humans, in
an attempt to interpret the world around them, created the first recorded
works of art. These cave paintings allowed them to better cope with their
dangerous and uncertain environs. The innate desire, or even need, to decipher
and understand the world around them has been a determinant factor in the
evolution of mankind. One of the most effective, yet at the same time challenging
and ambitious, methods of interpetating and comprehending the world is through
the study of mathematics. Among its other functions, mathematics has allowed
humanity to understand regularities and irregularities in the world - a
crucial necessity for human creativity.
When looking at artwork and mathematics - be it the Chauvet cave paintings
or the greatest of Monet's masterpieces, a simple abacus or a supercomputer
- there is an intrinsic tie between the two. On one hand, they both arise
from humanity's need to understand, interpret, and exercise control over
the world. On another level, the two seem to work together to a point where
one may be inconceivable without the other. Mathematics provides the order
needed to produce early and classic art. Simultaneously, art is a source
of the creativity needed to work through mathematics' more difficult problem.
Since those long-ago caves, both math and art have undergone tremendous
evolutions. Euclid and Ptolemy, Bacon and Newton, Einstein and Gauss have
all contributed to math's growth from aritmetic and algebra to the higher
forms of multi-dimension geometry and quantum physics which are studied
today. A similar evolution has occured in the history of art. From the classical
Greek and Roman statues, to the Renaissance masters, through to impressionism,
post -impressionism, and modern art, art has become increasingly complex.
It has also become increasingly intertwined with mathematics. Four artists
whose works are contingent upon mathematics are M.C. Escher, Tony Robbin,
Chuck Close, and Piet Mondrian.
The subjects of math and art, as well as the related subjects of beauty
and nature, have long been pondered and discussed by the greatest of minds.
Let us now defer to them, in hopes that they may shed some light on this
fascinating subject.
