Exploring the Intersection of Science & Art

A research project funded by The National Science Foundation

The connections between the arts and sciences are manifold.

Mathematics and science progress and develop in close relation and in response to the broader culture and, like art, are shaped by prevailing conditions, historical trends, and by the fashion of the day.

Scientific discoveries and mathematical puzzles have inspired art for centuries. Science and art alike require giving free rein to imagination, bold leaps and meandering forays, and openness to unforeseen opportunities – with rigorous post factum examination as a critical component. Mental processes underlying invention may very well have universal origins, and there are nontrivial parallels between mathematical and artistic creativity.

The Science of Art

How can the language of mathematics, with its definitions of equivalence (congruence, similarity, inversion, isomorphism, etc.) be used to describe artistic representations? How does this extend to abstract art? What physics tools can be brought to analyse the artistic processes, whether involving liquids, granular, or solid materials? How do such analyses contribute to the explorations of the meaning of the works of art?

$Contraband by Linda Benglis$

Contraband by Linda Benglis (photo Christopher Burke Studios)

The Art of Science

Can art stimulate science beyond simply translating or commenting upon what has already been discovered? To what degree is doing science an art? Might the broader public be as interested in how discoveries are made in mathematics, as they are in artistic explorations and approaches? How is the cultural history linked with the parallel development of ideas in the arts and in mathematical sciences?