instructional resources: art and physics

National Art Education Association

Instructional Resources: Art and PhysicsAuthor(s): Suesi MetcalfSource: Art Education, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Jan., 2004), pp. 25-32Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194081 .

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INSTRUCTIONAL

Art and Physics BY SUESI METCALF

"...The importance for creative thinking of the domain where art and science merge has been emphasized by great philosopher-scientists of the twentieth century Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, and Poincare. For in their research the boundaries between disciplines are often dissolved and they proceed neither deductively through logic nor inductively through the exclusive use of empirical data, but by visual thinking and aesthetics." (Miller, 1996, p. 107)

(Middle and high school students, grades 8-10)

Objectives These lesson plan ideas are designed to guide teachers of art and of science to encourage their students to see connections between art images and physics principles. The four works of art explored here are examples that can be linked visually and conceptually to physics properties in mathematics, space, energy, and light. The discussion questions are designed for grades 8 through 10. Art teachers are urged to share this article with science teachers; team teaching with a science teacher would be especially appropriate. One of the strengths of art lies in its power to facilitate visual thinking, to find and make visual connections between ideas, and to explore visual and conceptual opposites through imagery. Scientists do these things as well, in their exploration of the physical world. Interdisciplinary approaches to learning lead to a deeper understanding in each subject area, surpassing what is typically learned when subjects are taught separately (Caine & Caine, 1994). The process of clarifying knowledge by using visual information can occur by thinking critically about or through the act of creating a work of art.

In the school curriculum, physics and art are typically treated as having very little in common. Science, with its linear thought processes, has historically been viewed as a discipline that relies on precise knowledge. Art, on the other hand, appears to be based on cultural, individual, or group opinion. On close inspection, however, we find that the two subjects share thought processes.

Artist Information

Lynda Lowe began her career in art as a fiber artist experimenting with opposites such as chaos and control, and defini- tion and intuition, in an abstract style using handmade felt, gesso, and paint (Smith, 2001). Not long ago, Lowe was inspired by Leonard Shlain's book, Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light (Shlain, 1991), which suggested that artistic exploration precedes and often leads to corresponding scientific discoveries. This book changed Lowe's work. It inspired her to explore the connection between art and science in terms of the "manner and the language that scientists and artists use to process information and experiences (esp. in Psi)" (Lowe, 2000). Lowe explores theories of physics in her paintings through a combination of words and images.

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Wiens (Wiens & Shlain, 1999), an artist and art critic, wrote of the common elements of intuition and cognition that are inherent in both art and physics, and are addressed in Lowe's work:

Lynda Lowe's paintings are explorations of the points at which processes of artistic and scientific investigation merge. While science and art are often perceived as philosophical opposites the objective, analytical, linear progression of a scientific theory to its indisputable conclusion versus the subjective, intuitive, whimsical manifestation of an artistic idea in physical form-any visionary artist or scientist will acknowledge the vast common ground between the two... It is this common ground that both disciplines must occupy in order to progress, this rigorous process of questioning, challenging, experimenting, and adjusting our perceptions accordingly, that Lowe's work addresses. (p. 1)

Psi. Lynda Lowe, 1999 Oil on board, 18.5" x 12" (detail) With permission of the artist

Lowe entitles this artwork Psi, the Greek symbol for the wave function of light; it is part of her series entitled "Form and Measure." This image is a detail, a rectangle almost centered in a larger and darker rectangle that is twice as high and just over twice as wide as this.

Questions for Discussion * How does Lynda Lowe handle light? Are there shadows?

Why or why not? Describe the direction, intensity, and distribution of light in this work. Describe the kind of energy or mood that is portrayed.

* How is space used? Which is predominant, figure or ground? How does the use of space contribute to the mood of this painting? Think of one change the artist could make in the use of space: How would that change affect your reactions to this work?

* How is research evident in the artwork? What does the title mean and how does it relate to the imagery?

* Describe the skills required to paint an image of a scientific concept like this.

Art and Physics Connections Structure: How do artists in various media use visible structure in their art? (Piet Mondrian). What does a physicist view as structure? (mass, atoms, force) Name physicists who created visualizable structures to explain their findings (James D. Watson's and Francis H. C. Crick's structure in DNA). Examine visual structures (the FDAs "food pyramid" or Edward Tufte's books on the visual presentation of information) (Tufte 1983, 1990,1997).

Randomness: Which artists are known for randomness and/or non-randomness in their work? How do they achieve it? (Jackson Pollock's "action painting") When does a scientist use a random system? (During experiments, in creative thinking) What are some visual results of randomness in nature? (fallen leaves, animal tracks) Intuition and cognition: How are both types of knowledge used by the artist and the scientist?

Images: How does the scientist use images? (metaphorically, as a map, as a record, through a diagram) Scientists Einstein, Descarte, Kukele, and Crick and Watson all thought in images (Polanski, 2000). What found images do artists use in their work? (Andy Warhol, the works of collage artists Robert Rauschenberg, Georges Braque, and Romare Bearden)

Artist Information Victor Vasarely was born in Hungary in 1908. His early medical training, experiences at the Bauhaus, influence of contempo- raries Piet Mondrian and Josef Albers, and his lifelong fascina- tion with linear patterns resulted in hard-edged images with an emphasis on surface movement and the interaction of form and color.

Vasarely varied the styles of his non-representational images. This one is described as "expansive/regressive." Though we can understand representational art, Vasarely explained, his images put us into "complex space-time structures that lie beyond our scope" (Vasarely, 1978, p. 131), addressing the quickened pace of life where reflection and detail are lost. Vasarely's paintings represent transformation, from a state of calm stasis to increasingly active motion, and are designed to have an instant and powerful impact. Vasarely (1978) clarified his view of the nature of this transformation, "We suddenly find ourselves at the limits of the sciences. Art will be science" (p. 131).




Untitled. Victor Vasarely, 1970. Acrylic on canvas, 47.5" x 24". R. H. Love Gallery.




INSTRUCTIONAL ti I L B B I '~ I I

Untitled. Victor Vasarely, 1970 Acrylic on canvas, 47.5" x 24" R H. Love Gallery

Questions for Discussion * Describe the space that Vasarely paints. Why do some call it

"expansive/regressive"? Is the space actual or illusionary? How does the intensity of color add to the illusion of 3-dimen- sionality? What could be considered illusionary in physics? How is it similar and how is it different from the illusion that Vasarely presents to us in his painting?

* Describe Vasarely's work in one word. Does that word relate to physics, and if so, how?

* Thinking back to Lynda Lowe's interest in opposites, what words would convey the opposite of Vasarely's work?

* Why do you think Vasarely chose not to title his artwork? Think of five different titles, each conveying a different interpretation of the painting.

Art and Physics Connections Technique: Name different techniques an artist could use in making two-dimensional illusionistic art. What techniques does a physicist use to study the visible world? How is the work of the two professions similar and how is it different?

Tools: What kinds of tools do artists use? Physicists? How are the tools of the two professions similar and how are they different?

Geometry: How do artists use geometry? (enlarging a drawing, balancing sculpture, creating holograms) How do physicists use geometry? (creating holograms, for mathematical calculations)

Chemistry: How do artists use chemistry, now and in earlier eras? In what ways do physicists use chemistry?

Physics: How can an artist use physics? Can a physicist be an artist? Can you find artistic images in a physics book?

Artist Information Richard H. Love has been involved in the art world in many different ways. A former college art history instructor, he has written books and catalogues on art and artists, and he is the owner of R. H. Love Galleries in Chicago. He has provided "Comments on Fine Art" on WEFM and WBBM (Chicago), has hosted American Art Forum on public television, and continues to paint and exhibit his work. Love is not a physicist, but a physicist looking at one of his paintings once remarked, "That's pretty much how I envision it." He paints things we cannot see, as do other artists who paint things we have never seen such as fairies and monsters.

After 30 years of doing representational painting, Love created Fracture Zone IV, part of a series of non-objective abstractions he calls "Quantum Images." Love attempts to reveal the invisible world of subatomic activity: His paintings are not illustrations, but are "aesthetic approximations" representing the energetic activity of subatomic particles and such concepts as time sequence, streaming, quarks, and the energetic activity that exists in a billionth of a millisecond. He describes the middle parts of these images as spatial "zippers," pulsing lines of energy and atomic collision. Ligocki (1991) wrote of Love's influences for creating this series:

The painter alludes to Harold Rosenberg's talk of filling the void with artistic evidences of human emotions and energy and refers to Hans Hofmann's philosophy that the end product is strictly artistic ambition made manifest on canvas. Beyond that though, Love attempts to evoke from the viewer a sense of uncommon spatial dimensions created by juxtaposed color-textured areas which then serve as the expanse for quantum magnitude. (p. 3)

Fracture Zone IV. Richard H. Love Latex and acrylic on canvas, 48" x 96.5" R. H. Love Gallery

Questions for Discussion * How is Love's work structured? What creates, or could create,

balance? How does Love's imagery relate to quantum physics? * How would you paint subatomic activity? What colors would

you use, and why? How would your painting be the same/ different from Love's painting?

* How does the title of the painting relate to quantum physics? Suggest three titles for this piece; select and explain the one that seems most appropriate.

* What feeling do you get from Love's painting? How does the painting create the mood that it does? Could you describe the painting as static, or as having energy? Why?

Art and Physics Connections Segments: What is a segment in physics? How do artists use segments? Units: How does a physicist use or define "unit?" An artist? (Think of architecture, quilts)

Integers: How do artists use numbers? How are these uses different and/or the same as the ways physicists use numbers? Can you name artists who incorporate integers in their art? (Jasper Johns, Marsden Hartley)




Fracture Zone IV. Richard H. Love. Latex and acrylic on canvas, 48" x 96.5". R. H. Love Gallery.

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INSTRUCTIONAL

Elements: What are elements in art? Are there similarities and/or differences in the way elements are used/defined between the fields of art and physics? Particles: How does a physicist define particle? What do models of particles look like? Are there artists who use particles, or the idea of particles, in their work?

Energy: How do the thoughts about energy differ between the scientist and the artist? Is the difference conceptual? Visual?

Artist Information Richard Pousette-Dart, bor 1916, worked as a secretary so he could be free to paint and draw in the evening. Pousette-Dart's images were inspired by his deep mystical and spiritual concerns. His numerous one-man exhibitions included the Museum of Modem Art's exhibit highlighting abstract art (1944), and also Peggy Guggenheim's "Art of This Century Gallery" in New York (1947) (Rothenstein, 1971). Pousette-Dart made connections between art and science not in subject matter, but in attitude. He is interested in opposites, embracing dualities such as life and stasis, the human and the cosmic. He is quoted as saying, "The highest knowing is unknowing" (Hobbs, 1990, p. 80). This statement is reminiscent of Eastern philosophy. "Not-knowing is true knowledge" (Lao-tzu, 1988, p. 71), a translation from the Tao Te Ching. Pousette-Dart sees Eastern philosophy, the valuing of the ability to "forget" what we know in order to look with the unknowing eyes of a child, as appropriate for both art and physics. In science the mind can be clouded by what a researcher might "expect" to find, or what has been historically "known." In art the same can be true. It is common to see young artists' contour drawings of a tennis shoe contain both lines showing what they "see" in the beautiful sensual outer lines and lines illustrating what they "know" in the stiff lines of crossed laces. Accurate perception, unclouded by what a person "knows," is necessary for discovery in both art and science.

Pool of Contemplation. Richard Pousette-Dart Oil on linen, 33" x 60" R. H. Love Gallery

Aesthetic Questions for Discussion * What colors do you see and how are they used? Could the dots

represent a microcosm or a macrocosm? If this was a picture of something, what might it be, and why? Pousette-Dart uses dots of color, as the Impressionists did: how are the two techniques similar? In what ways does this painting not look like an Impressionist painting? Does this pointillist technique relate directly to any scientific principle?

* What scientific principles, inventions, or theories does this image bring to mind?

* What words would you use to describe the energy quality of this painting? What techniques, elements, or principles does the artist use to create this particular quality of energy?

* How would you describe this artist's use of light and/or of contrast?

Art and Physics Connections Eastern philosophy: How do the principles of Eastern philoso- phies become visible in art? Can you name several artists or cultures that base their art on the idea of "forgetting what we know"?

Symbols: How do physicists and artists use symbols? What are some of the symbols each profession uses? List some symbols that appear in works of art from our own and other cultures.

Knowledge: Capra (1991) describes modem physics as interdependent parts that form patterns to be discovered and represented as objects. How do you interpret Pousette-Dart's Pool of Contemplation in terms of patterns? What might this piece represent if it is interpreted as a microscopic enlargement? A macrocosmic image?

Objectives/Assessment The students, working in small groups, will be able to compile a list of five ways that artists and scientists think alike. Assessment: One point for each acceptable answer.

To aid students in gaining perspective, they will discuss their art and concept with at least two other students. Students are encouraged to give feedback to each presenting artist. Assessment: Did the student present his/her art clearly? Did the student provide feedback to at least one other student?

The student will be given a list of questions to answer in small group presentations. How successful was the student's visualization of a scientific principle? Were symbols or metaphors used to strengthen the visual idea of your scientific principle? Describe your finished work of art. Assessment: Students in the group will have a checklist to assess their peers and themselves.




Pool of Contemplation. Richard Pousette-Dart. Oil on linen, 33" x 60". R. H. Love Gallery.

Peer Checklist How successfully did the student present his/her art and the

corresponding scientific principle?

To what degree did the student demonstrate understanding of a scientific principle in group presentation? (Excellent, Good, Okay, Poor, Unacceptable)

To what degree did the student demonstrate understanding of a scientific principle in a finished painting? (Excellent, Good, Okay, Poor, Unacceptable)

Self-Evaluation Write two paragraphs. In paragraph one include a description of your painting and how it corresponds to your scientific

principle. In the second paragraph describe how you would assess yourself. Make sure to include what you find as important indicators that you were successful or not successful with this

assignment.

After viewing and discussing the four images by Lowe, Love, Vasarely, and Pousette-Dart, the student will choose a scientific

principle and complete a visual representation of that principle in the form of a painting, color drawing, or collage. Assessment: To what degree did the student visually and

conceptually create art that was based on a scientific concept? The student can list five ways he/she used ideas in both art and physics.

Suesi Metcalf is a visiting professor at Northern Illinois

University. E-mail:smetcaljfniu.edu

REFERENCES Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1994). Making connections: Teaching and

the human brain. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley. Capra, F (1991). The tao ofphysics. Boston: Shambhala.

Hobbs, R. (1990). Confronting the unknown within. In R. Hobbs & J. Kuebler (Eds.). Richard Pousette-Dart. Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Lao-tzu.(1988). Tao te ching. (S. Mitchell, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row.

Ligocki, G. (1991). Quantum images. In R. H. Love (Ed.), Quantum images. Chicago: Haase-Mumm Publishing Company.

Lowe, L. (2000). E-mail correspondence with the author. Miller A. I. (1996). Visualization lost and regained: The genesis of the

quantum theory in the period 1913-1927. In T. Druckery (Ed.). Electronic culture technology and visual representation. (pp. 86- 107). New York: Aperture.

Polanski, G. J. (2000, May 27). In congruity Lynda Lowe: New paintings. Artscope Review.

Rothenstein, J. (Ed.). (1971). New international illustrated encyclo- pedia of art (Vols. 16 & 22). New York: Greystone Press.

Shlain, L. (1991). Art and physics: Parallel visions in space, time and light. New York: William Morrow.

Smith, B. L. (2001, Winter). Intellect and intuition: The paradoxical pairings of Lynda Lowe. Surface Design 25 (2), 36-39.

Tufte, E.R. (1983). The visual display of quantitative information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Tufte, E.R. (1990). Envisioning information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Tufte, E.R. (1997). Visual explanations. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Vasarely, V. (1978). Vasarely. (I. M. Paris, Trans.). New York: Alpine Fine Arts Collection, Ltd.

Wiens, A. & Shlain, L. (1999). Lynda Lowe: Form and measure. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Art Museum Gallery in Chicago.




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