Course Policies

Syllabus

Homework:

• Guidelines for Homework Presentation
• Assignments:
  • Assignment 0: Introductory Letter
  • PS 1: Systems of Proportion
  • PS 2: More on Systems of Proportion
  • PS 3: The Golden Ratio
  • PS 4: More on The Golden Ratio
  • PS 5: Still More on the Golden Ratio
  • PS 6: Introduction to Perspective
  • Problem Set 7:
    • PS 7: Vanishing Points and Finding the Correct Viewing Position.
    • For this problem set, you will need print-outs of several paintings. Please print out a version of each for yourself to work on.
      • Van der Weyden's Seven Sacraments Altarpiece
      • Rafael's School of Athens
      • Masaccio's Trinity
  • PS 8: Subdividing and Duplicating Rectangles; Anamorphic Art
  • PS 9: Other Dimensions
  • PS 10: The 4th Dimension; Intro to Non-Euclidean Geometry
  • PS 11: Non-Euclidean Geometry; Intro to Fractals

• Study Guides for the first three exams:
  • Study guide for Exam 1
  • Study guide for Exam 2
  • Study guide for Exam 3

Projects:

• General Description of How Projects Fit Into This Course

• Project	Brief description	Due date
  1	Read a book or article on math in art	4/29/05
  2	Create work rigorously using proportion	2/11/05
  3	Analyze Seurat's La Parade for evidence of the Golden Ratio	3/4/05
  4	Create work incorporating Golden Ratio and/or Fibonacci numbers	3/11/05
  5	Draw house using 3D coordinates & perspective formulae	4/1/05
  6	Create work using perspective techniques developed in class	4/8/05
  7	Create work of anamorphic art	4/15/05
  8	Construct "unfolded" hypercube, identifying connecting faces	4/22/05
  9	Read Flatland; write description of contraints on life in 2D	4/29/05
  10	Speculate on life in 4th dimension, based on sound mathematics	4/29/05
  11	Create a model of the hyperbolic plane-beads, crochet, or sewn	5/4/05
  12	Create a fractal using the recursive process	5/4/05

Some selected fun, interesting & relevant articles from Ivars Peterson's weekly series Math Trek and other sources:

• Systems of Proportion
  • Medieval Harmony (music)
  • An adaptation of Stonehenge in New Zealand
• Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers
  • Golden Blossoms, Pi Flowers(flowers)
  • A Fibonacci Fountain (sculpture)
• Perspective
  • Art of the Grid (anamorphic art -- missing most of the images, but has some links)
  • Sphere Worlds(painting; perspective)
• 4th Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry
  • A Stranger from Spaceland (discussing Flatland)
  • Immersed in Klein Bottles (glass-blowing)
  • Hyperbolic 5 (textiles, graphic design)
  • Anatomy of a Bead Creature(beading; non-Euclidean Geometry)
• Fractals
  • Math in Arcadia (theatre)
  • Pascal's Fractals (graphic design)

    To create some of these fun triangles yourself, go to this website

  • Visiting Artlandia (graphic design)
  • Dancing Chaos (music)
  • Jackson Pollock's fractals (painting)
  • Geometry Out of Africa (textiles, sand drawings -- and a link to Latvian needlework)
  • Fractured Granite and Fractal Prints (sculpture & prints; fractals)
• Symmetry
  • Geometry Out of Africa (textiles, sand drawings -- and a link to Latvian needlework)
  • Sand Drawings and Mirror Images (drawings)
• Miscellaneous
  • Mathematical Art on Display (this discusses a long-gone exhibit, but has lots of links to mathematical art. Some links are also long-gone, but some are really cool.)
  • Fractal Roots and Artful Math(another long-gone exhibit, with more cool links to mathematical art of many different types)
  • Squaring Circles(not exactly art, but still cool)
  • Artful Routes(graphic design)
  • Art of Pursuit (graphic design)
  • Mozart's Melody Machine (music)
  • Sculpture Generator (scultpure, of course!)
  • Art of the Tetrahedron (sculpture)

    To see some of the sculptures described in this article, go to this website of Arthur Silverman's work

  • Sculpting with a Twist(sculpture)
  • A Minimal Winter's Tale (sculpture -- in the snow)
  • White Narcisssus (more snow sculpture)
  • A Snowy Twist(still more snow sculpture)
  • A Graceful Sculpture's Showy Snow Crash (and still more snow scultpure)