Snowflakes, flower petals, the spiral arms of a galaxy, waves and dunes, the stripes on a tiger - all are examples of naturally occurring patterns. While a beautiful pattern appeals to the aesthetic side of our brains, it also begs the question of whether we can recreate such artful designs. Hence there is a motivation to understand beauty with logic.
Mathematics provides us with tools to characterize patterns, and physics teaches us how to understand the emergence of patterns. This course will help you learn some selected topics in maths and physics that you will use to create designs. You will learn to use computer programming to materialize these abstract concepts into powerful visuals.
We will start our algorithmic art journey by discussing the basics of coding, coordinate geometry, matrix algebra, and using each of these concepts to create something beautiful. Then we will move on to more advanced topics like cluster-finding algorithm, differential equations, and random walks and use these sophisticated tools to make art.
This course will provide a gentle introduction to advanced tools used in science research. This interdisciplinary course will teach you many transferrable skills like coding, deconstruction of a complex problem into simple parts, communication of ideas by visual means, and teamwork - all of which are useful skills for various types of projects.
This course is meant to encourage creativity and give definite shape to your own creative thoughts. Even though everyone will learn the same concepts, every one of you will have different ideas of applying those concepts and creating something new. I want you to exchange ideas with your peers and collaborate whenever possible. The classes will be highly interactive. As a collective class, you will explore the many possibilities of algorithmic art.
Towards the end of the semester, you will hear talks from a couple of professional artists about their approach to art. You are encouraged to interact with the speakers after their talks and gain perspective from an artist’s point of view. As science students exploring visual art within the capacity of science, these talks will enrich our own understanding of beauty and aesthetics.
My rationale for this course is to use science to get creative. I want you to have fun as you learn new concepts, and apply them in your own unique way to create some original pieces of science-inspired art.