How can Mathematics be artistic?

IT IS unlikely that most people would think artistically when talking about mathematics. However, the link between math and the arts is often overlooked.

The propensity of people to veer away from the arts when discussing math is but a natural compartmentalization reaction because the difference between the arts and mathematics is like the difference between critical and creative thinking or adductive and deductive reasoning. There is a world of difference between the arts and mathematics but only perceptively, because in theory, both are closely linked together.

There is evidence from history that mathematicians often become great artists and vice versa. “Benjamin Henry Latrobe, a distinguished architect, and engineer was an accomplished watercolorist. Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code and the telegraph, as well as Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat frame, were both artists before they converted to careers in technology” (Stix, 2012).

Here one sees how artistry can cross over to mathematics in the form of technology. In another instance, we see, “the founder of the science eugenics, Francis Galton, state(d) that he thought in images” (Galton, 1907) and “Albert Einstein claim(ing) that his ability to think visually was so strong it was actually arduous for him to translate his thinking into traditional language” (Holton, 1972). In this particular example, we have great scientists and critical thinkers acknowledging their ability to think creatively is related to the artistic skill that they possess.

These examples are hard proof that mathematics and the arts are inextricably linked together and it is the position of this writer that the reason for such a phenomenon is that the principles used in mathematics are indispensable to the field of the arts and artistic concepts are also indispensable to the field of mathematics.

A very simple analogy will illustrate this position: in the writing of poetry, for example, basic counting is a vital skill especially when meter and rhyme are of prime consideration because poetic feet require the counting of syllables. In painting, the mathematical, or more specifically, geometrical principles of perspective and symmetry are of prime importance. If we look at mathematics, we also find instances where the arts or creative thinking are commonplace – in the solving of word problems, learners are encouraged to visualize and imagine which are creative skills used in artistic creation.

It is also important to note that the concept of aesthetics is not a totally ambiguous concept because there are certain principles such as balance, harmony, and unity that need to be considered in aesthetic perception, all of which draw their origins from mathematical principles.

So, what is the significance of all these? These realities simply show that learners cannot just be good in mathematics without being good in the arts. It is unlikely that learners who are good in mathematics will be poor in the arts. Perhaps, most of the time, one skill is overshadowed by the other, or one of the skills remain latent, but it is quite likely that both skills are present in most learners at the same time.

The implications of this in teaching mathematics are boundless. When teachers begin to recognize that learners who are good in mathematics can also be good in the arts, then a floodgate of possibilities opens up in teaching mathematics to students.

Teachers can draw from a student’s dedication and interest in mathematics to enhance or surface that student’s artistic skills and the arts can serve as a platform for better mathematical understanding for students who have little to no interest in mathematics.

Obviously, one cannot separate the arts from mathematics and the reality is that this knowledge can be used to the advantage of the teacher in teaching mathematics.

Teachers can draw from this realization to cultivate students who can perform better in mathematics because of their ability to allow creative thought in mathematical methodologies and/or students who are artistically more adept when they apply the principles of mathematics to their artistic renditions. ( Paid article)