Last night, my family and I had a real treat. In the midst of an impossibly busy week, we took time out to sit in a darkened theatre and be transported to another land and another time. As the lights dimmed and the orchestra swelled, we were suddenly in 1905 Russia, with Tevye, his wife Golde and their five daughters. The man sitting next to me hummed along with every song, and I mouthed the words. Like much of the rest of the audience, I found myself grinning at Tevys’s dancing–and crying when he declared his daughter, Chava, dead to him.
*sigh*
This morning, the tunes from Fiddler on the Roof are still running through my head. For me, there’s not much more inspiring and beautiful than a staged musical.
One my family’s resolutions this year is to see more theatre. And we’ve made good on that promise already. In January, we saw Arsenic and Old Lace and a community college production of Greater Tuna. I’m not sure what’s next.
Like many folks, I believe art (of all kinds) provides the gorgeous background to a sometimes drab world. Art makes me think, while invoking emotions that can be otherwise hard to access. I’ve found myself moved by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Martha Graham, Edgar Degas, Mary Oliver, Amy Ray and Oscar Wilde. Art has become a centerpiece of my daily life.
But if you grew up thinking that art and mathematics were mutually exclusive entities, I hope you’ve been disabused of that notion. If not, stay tuned.
Here at Math for Grownups, February is all about art. I’ll introduce you to some amazing artists — like Elizabeth Perkins, one of my former math students, who is now a highly conceptual glass artist. These creative souls will help make the connections between art and math.
And we’ll delve into some of the more esoteric aspects of mathematics that form the underpinnings of natural beauty, classic art and modern music–like symmetry, the golden ratioand Fibonacci’s Sequence.
If art provides the beauty of the world, math describes it. From poetry to glass sculptures to song, math is at the heart of all artistic endeavors. I hope you’ll join me this month as we uncover the beauty of the world around us–with math.
What is your favorite artistic form? Music, paintings, theatre, writing? Share your thoughts about math and art in the comments section below. And if you’ve always had a question about the connections between art and math, ask. I’d love to explore the answer in a post this month.Save
