Mathematics and Art

Full course description

When experiencing the beauty of art, few people realise the role that mathematics plays in this experience. In this hands-on course we will explore the role of mathematics in art. This encompasses not just the graphical arts, but also topics like sculpture, architecture, cartography and music. Geometry plays a large role in both shaping art and nature, and some special numbers, such as pi, will be covered. Many other mathematical principles, such as symmetry, scaling, topology and fractals,  will be discussed. Each week a different theme will be explored, and students are asked to analyse a work of existing art based on the mathematical principles discussed. Some of the work will also involve the use of math tools such as wolfram-alpha or geogebra, to analyse art and generate art based on math.

For the final project students will produce their own work of art, and give a brief presentation on the role of mathematics in their design.