The Similarities Between Art and Science Essay Example
When we think of science we mainly think of the universe, the atmosphere, the biosphere/living things around us, weather, elements, and many more. Nonetheless, has it ever crossed our mind that art could be a key point to discovery in science? Many people think only subjects like math and reading can help with discoveries and equations but without art, we may not know some of the things we know today. When we think of art, things like painting, sketching, drawing, etc, but when we realize the main concepts in art then we begin to realize and see the similarities in both art and science. The common concepts used in both art and science are symmetry, abstract painting, and texture.
As stated in the previous paragraph, symmetry is a concept used in both science and art. Symmetry is seen all around us such as in nature, organisms and their environments, landscapes, and much more. First and foremost, what is symmetry? Are the meanings different in science and in art? The concept of symmetry in art is when there’s a “formal type of balance consisting of a mirroring or portions of an image”. Now the meaning of symmetry in science is “the repetition of the parts in an animal or plant in an orderly fashioned way”. As you can see, both of the meanings sound very similar. It might cross our minds that if they sound similar then there should be a connection between them and of course, there is. They are both related to one another because they both mean that if you were to fold something on opposite sides on a certain line, then they would be exactly symmetrical, or mirroring one another. We can see many examples of symmetry in our daily lives such as animals, landscapes, and reflections. For example, there are many examples of symmetry in animals such as starfishes, corals, sea urchins, and many more animals and organisms. There are many types of symmetry but the ones that are mainly used in both art and science are radial symmetry and bilateral symmetry. Radial symmetry is a symmetry in which “the sides exhibit correspondence or regularity of parts around a central axis”. This basically means that there is symmetry around a central axis. An example of this would be many types of trees. They’re not just symmetrical in their shape, but also in their appearance when reflected on a body of water. Bilateral symmetry is when the body of an organism can be divided along a plane that divided the organism into left and right sides. These sides would be symmetrical to one another. Some examples of this would be humans, dogs, and butterflies. As seen in these examples and definitions, there are many symmetrical examples around us wherever we go and look. Not only is symmetry used in nature, but it is also used to determine laws in science. For example, while discovering the basic laws of the universe, many physicists have found symmetry useful in their discoveries because if something possesses symmetry, it can be altered in certain ways, but remain unchanged. All in all, symmetry is a major fact in science and plays an important role in our daily lives, but symmetry is not the only concept in the arts that is connected to science. Another major factor is abstract painting.
Not only are the concepts the same in both areas, but so are some of its branches, like abstract painting and visual art. Since reading you might be wondering what other areas have a similar relation to each other but did it ever cross our mind that abstract painting could connect to science, especially environmental? To get started, what is an abstract painting? Abstract painting is an art that “does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead uses shapes, colors, forms, and gestural marks to achieve its effect”. The word abstract means to separate or withdraw something from something else. Abstract painting can be applied to art that is based on an object, figure, or landscape, where forms have been simplified or schematized. This means that abstract art can capture emotions, meanings, texture, unspoken opinions, and unspoken pain. Many abstract paintings capture a landscape’s essence and little specific details that only paintings can capture. Abstract art can help humans connect with nature and understand the beauty and importance of the world around us. An example of this is a painting of a mountain. It helps capture the essence of it and the type of mountain it is. Whether it’s a faulted mountain, volcanic, etc. It can capture the types of rocks, the peak, where they formed, the formation of the mountain, and the little hidden texture/details on it. Not only can it help us connect and have a healthy relationship with the environment, but it can also help us understand and see our flaws. Abstract painting can help us see the harm we cause to nature. It helps us see where we need to fix ourselves. It helps us understand the problems we’re causing such as logging, destroying habitats, pollution, and causing species to go extinct. It helps us understand what daily routines that we constantly do that affect the landscapes and environments of the world around us and the importance of why we should change our ways. There is a type of art that goes with this and it’s called Ecological art. This type of art is to paint the struggles and beauty of nature. This type of art uses natural sustainable materials like earth, stones, leaves, and branches. The main goal of Ecological, or environmental, art is to raise awareness of the dangers facing the planet and promote its conservation. It’s to help encourage communication and citizen participation to protect nature. Another way it helps with science is that it helps capture the damages from natural disasters. It helps by painting the aftermath, location, damage, and how much damage was caused by it. For example, a painting of a volcanic eruption can help determine how much magma was let out, the intensity of the eruption, how much tephra is escaping the volcano, and the viscosity of the magma. This is why abstract painting is important in recording natural changes in science.
Lastly, an important concept of science and art is texture which is used in both of these departments. First and foremost, what is texture? Are the meanings different in art and science? Well, the meaning of texture in the terms of art is “the surface quality in a work of art”. The texture is also defined as a repeating pattern of local variations in image intensity and a feature used to partition and classify images into regions of interest. This means that texture is created to look as how it would most likely feel if touched. The texture could be used in art to create a visual interest or a focal point in a composition. Now the meaning of texture in science is “the surface characteristics and appearance of an object given by the size, shape, density, arrangement, and proportion of its elementary parts”. Another meaning for this is “the disposition or manner of union of the particles of a body or substance, a visual or tactile surface characteristic resulting in a certain appearance”. As you can see, both of these have similar, if not identical meanings. The connection they have together is that we can identify objects in science through texture using shape, size, density, and arrangement. For example, you can identify whether a rock is sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic through the use of physical appearance, size, shape, size variability, and texture. To identify whether a rock is igneous, or metamorphic, you could use the geometric arrangement of its mineral crystals as for sedimentary rocks you would use a rock’s constituent elements.
Another example of texture being used in the environmental science world is by defining a type of soil. Texture is mainly used in this field by distinguishing what type of soil it is, and whether it is good for planting. Texture is also used to indicate the relative content of particles of various sizes, such as sand, silt, and clay. It also helps determine how much soil can be used, whether it needs to be watered, and if it has enough minerals and nutrients. Scientists not only use texture in determining a type of soil, but also to identify the different kinds of volcanoes, mountains, trees, and many more natural features. The different characteristics of an individual object help identify in what categories it should fall and it helps understand the fundamentals its origins had. That is why texture is an important concept in science.
In conclusion, art has many connections in the science department that would never cross our minds. They help shape science into what it is today. The discoveries and accomplishments we have in science wouldn’t have been possible without the concepts of art such as the basic laws of the universe. Some of the concepts that are largely used in science and have contributed are symmetry, which is used abundantly in nature, abstract painting, and texture. By understanding how these factors connect, we can better understand and see the connections from them in our daily lives.
