While art and science may seem as though they have nothing in common, there are a surprising number of overlaps if you take the time to look for them. As someone with a background in science and math as opposed to art, finding these crossovers between the subjects has really helped me appreciate art in a new way. A great example of this is Jackson Pollock's work with drip painting. I have seen Pollock's work before but I have always been in the category of people who criticize his abstract form for being meaningless and able to be done by anyone. His paint drips, however, contain much more complexity (fractals) than I previously thought. This intricacy makes the painting infinitely more interesting to me because it is no longer just random paint splatters in my mind.
Fractals in architecture
Besides providing another aspect to the paintings that make them interesting, fractals are also inherently aesthetically-pleasing patterns. This helps to explain why people like paintings along the lines of Pollock's abstract paint splatter work. Fractal art even comes with some benefits. Recent studies have stated that fractals have the potential to reduce stress because of their aesthetic qualities. Even though people may not be aware of it, the visual complexity of fractals is interesting to us and has a noticeable effect on our brains. In another modern mashup of science and art, YouTube videos of fractals have hundreds of thousands of views, most likely because of the same reasons Pollock's art became so popular. Ultimately, our art and science seem to have always been intertwined and will continue to be.
Fractal Video on YouTube
References:
Anae. “The Facts about Pollock's Fractals.” University of Oregon, 4 Jan. 2017, blogs.uoregon.edu/richardtaylor/2017/01/04/the-facts-about-pollocks-fractals/.
Ouellette, J. “Pollock's Fractals” Discover Magazine, discovermagazine.com/2001/nov/featpollock.
Taylor, R.p. “Reduction of Physiological Stress Using Fractal Art and Architecture.” Leonardo, vol. 39, no. 3, 2006, pp. 245–251., doi:10.1162/leon.2006.39.3.245. Taylor, Richard, and Materials Science Institute. “Fractal Patterns in Nature and Art Are Aesthetically Pleasing and Stress-Reducing.” The Conversation, 16 Apr. 2018, theconversation.com/fractal-patterns-in-nature-and-art-are-aesthetically-pleasing-and-stress- reducing-73255.
Interesting post! I also hadn't realized that Pollock's work would be considered fractals - it's an interesting lens to critique his art from. The psychological aspect you brought up was also new to me. It's pretty cool that science can prove that a certain type of art is objectively "pleasing" and "stress reducing."
While C. P. Snow divides the world in art and science and places these two groups at odds with each other, I don't see his writings as inherently being about art and science. Instead, I interpret his discussion as being a distinction between traditionalism and modernism and his argument as a frustration with traditionalism and its results. Sacred writing of the Baha'i faith discussing traditionalism vs. modernism He is not alone in making this argument and he is also not the first. A relatively new religion, Baha'i, which began in Iran in the mid-1800's, has been attempting to address the problem of traditionalism vs. modernism in the context of religion for the last 150 years. The Baha'i faith even has a similar position, arguing that modernism must be embraced and combined with traditionalism. This combination of modernism and traditionalism is comparable to Snow's own prediction that there will eventually be third culture which bridges the gap betwe
As a psychobiology major at UCLA, I have already had some exposure to the subject of biotechnology. As a matter of fact, I took a course as a freshman titled Biotechnology and Society which spanned the length of three quarters. Because of this previous experience, the artists Joe Davis and Eduardo Kac stand out to me as doing a great job in bridging biotechnology and art. Example of Brainbow Kac holding his GFP Bunny Eduardo Kac is famous for his work done with GFP (green fluorescent protein), a technology which has helped to advance the field of biotech through applications such as fluorescent labeling. While it has facilitated many other important discoveries, Kac used it to create a fluorescent rabbit as an art piece. While some may argue that this was a useless exercise, I see it as an expression of art through a canvas no one has been able to use before. It is somewhat similar in this sense to brainbow, a form of art where fluorescent tags are used to color neurons in a
Interesting post! I also hadn't realized that Pollock's work would be considered fractals - it's an interesting lens to critique his art from. The psychological aspect you brought up was also new to me. It's pretty cool that science can prove that a certain type of art is objectively "pleasing" and "stress reducing."
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