Art through means of Math

Hello, The following project is the result of a research contemplation of math and art studies. The project
           is based on prior knowledge, online sources, and personal studies.

             The idea that something, be it two or three-dimensional, can be aesthetically pleasing has existed for as long as history has been able to document it. Hundreds of brilliant scientists, artists, theorists, doctors, explorers, and even religious figures have studied the origins of human attraction. Science has defined this inquiry as the study of "sensory or sensory-emotional values" and "judgements by sentiment and taste". Many refer to art in general as aesthetic, be it pleasing or not. Much of visual art is based on the principles of design (range of value (darkness or lightness), balance, unity, repetition (objects that are repeated are usually considered aesthetically pleasing if they are in odd numbers), proportion, use of space, and color. These theories also apply to how people are attracted to other humans. The way the eye perceives human facial beauty is through a series of geometric and symmetrical algorithms. The following is a short video made by Dove to promote "natural beauty" by highlighting the ways advertised images define our society's perception of female beauty. The use of enlarging the eyes, balancing the facial features, and other techniques, is heavily based on the eye's attraction to such mathematical algorithms:

                  YouTube Video: "The Definition of Beauty"

    Another way people perceive aesthetic attractiveness is through color. When concentrating on color, one can begin to understand its importance to a world that is very much based on aesthetically pleasing images. When complementary colors (opposite colors on the color wheel, such as 'red and green' or 'purple and yellow') are put side-by-side, something's aesthetic value can be heightened. The use of these types of colors attracts attention from the viewer and also can leave one with various feelings.
    Beauty, a word that means "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intensepleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arisingfrom sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.),a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as apersonality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).", is a definition that has been passed down through decades and centuries, even if in other countries and societies. According to several sources, in the 1700's, female body beauty was based on the "pear-shape" (one of a woman who worked in the fields and bore many children). In the 1800's the standard was a "rectangular-shape" (of a woman who stayed indoors, wore corsets, and was pale and thin). The early 1900's definition of bodily beauty was based on the "thin rectangular-shape" (not yet curvy, but very thin, with un-athletic long legs and arms. In the middle of the 1900's the "hourglass-shape" of popular pin-up models became overwhelmingly popular and gave way to society's current perception of the female body. All these shapes are linked directly to symmetric geometrical shapes in math. The following images are perceptions of beauty over the last hundred years in both America and several different countries:

DaVinci was one of the first artists to successfully be both a brilliant artist and mathematician. The image to the left is study on the proportions of the human face. DaVinci found that when these proportions are changed slightly, different aesthetic responses could be taken from viewers.

This Renaissance sculpture on exhibition in the Louvre is the medieval definition of female beauty. There was not much concentration on large breasts or thin features as there is now. Beauty was defined by a "healthy" body. Much like the definitions of beauty from other centuries, the bodies of women were pleasing to the eye when symmetrical.

A beauty pageant from the 1920's.

A painting of an aesthetically pleasing Japanese woman from
the 1940's-1950's. The beauty of the facial features were based heavily on symmetry and the presence of "small" features

One of the most popular pin-up girls from the 1950's, Bettie Page. People began to pay more attention to shape. As the era of pin-ups grew so did the perception of beauty. The emphasis on balance and line is part of today's society's perception of beauty.

1970's image of tanned women with long legs. At this time people began to focus more on the length of legs and thinness of the human body.








Resources used:
    Wikipedia: Color Theory
    Wikipedia: Complementary Colors
    Wikipedia: Aesthetics
    Wikipedia: Beauty
    YouTube Video

And it begins.

33 (thirty-three) is the natural number following 32 and preceding 34.

Omo! What IIIIISSSSS thirty-three anyways?

And just to spruce up the atmosphere:

A little Harry Potter action for all those excited pre-pubecent kids!