14 Art, craft, hobbies, and entertainment

Physics models our visual perception and how this affects both the methods of an artist and the experience of a viewer. The physical behavior of artistic materials like paints, varnishes, and canvases as well as the interaction of these materials with light and other aspects of the environment influences both the preparation and preservation of art works. Physical phenomena can be the subject of art; they can also be the medium within which artistic work is expressed. Sometimes physics tools and artistic tools overlap: consider lithography and etching. Physical methods are used in characterizing and authenticating famous works of art. Photography is fundamentally based on physical effects and technologies and yet can be strongly guided by artistic intentions. Sculpture requires specialized shaping and manipulation of materials, sometimes requiring (for large sculptures) the balance and manipulation of large forces.

Art blends into craft as the objects of preparation overlap with objects for use, from pottery to glassware to wooden bowls to clothing. Intricate manipulation of tools and materials is usually done by hand but with keen understanding of physical properties. Indeed, craft is a wonderful opportunity to mentally engage directly with the physical nature of things.

Musical instruments are exquisite and often subtle physical devices. The psychoacoustics of musical tones mixes physics with neuroscience, psychology, and culture. Public performances – musical and theatrical – now often involve sophisticated physical controls of sound and light. Stagecraft, from the creation of sets and props to the real-time manipulation of scenes, involves modeling, planning, and execution of coordinated physical manipulation.

Commercial films now use elaborate special effects. Some are computer-animated and the underlying software has sophisticated “physics engines” and algorithms for generating scense such as fractal landscapes. Other special effects require sophisticated and often daring manipulation of real physical phenomena, from elaborate stunts to carefully timed and placed explosions.

Art serves physics and science in many ways. There is an intriguing overlap between the creativity involved in both arenas: think of the work of Leonardo da Vinci. We speak of “beauty” and “elegance” in describing mathematical equations and theories. We may use artistic tools and artistic sensibilities in visualizing data or depicting abstract concepts like fields, wavefunctions, and space-time.