Data visualization as the intersection of mathematics and art

Mathematics and Art

Mathematics

The application that I researched and found of mathematics and art is Data Visualization, which is closely related to Infographics. On a very simple level, data visualizations are artistic, aesthetic representations of data. The ways in which the data visualization can be "drawn" or created involves different kinds of mathematics, including vectors, fractals, algorithms, and statistics. Data visualization is a fairly new field, indigenous to the 21st century. There have been other ways to represent data graphically, but not with the detail, precision, and beauty offered by data visualization.

Presentation and aesthetics are very important in the consideration of data visualization. I found this application of mathematics and art particularly compelling because its existence seems to fly in the face of the long held stereotype that there are strict boundaries between science and art. Data visualization seems to be the artistic version or expression of science (and mathematics) and it also is the scientific representation of art. Data visualization is an example of how the boundaries between science, math and art are really quite illusory, and data visualizations exemplify how mathematics and art can be practical, beautiful, and harmonious together.

A leader in the field of data visualization is the author Edward Tufte. He is considered a pioneer and leader of data visualization and other forms of visual explanation & presentation of data. He writes upon data visualization and what he calls information graphics -- the practice of representing data graphically and beautifully. He is a highly influential figure in the field, and many of his design principles have influenced designers of websites, magazines, newspapers, and other forms of media that proliferate in the world today.

This is a fairly new field, which may fall under another fairly new field, called Software Studies, which has been pioneered by Lev Manovich. Both men are highly educated and on the cutting edge of their respective studies and activities, making data visualization a hot topic and a fashionable trend that continues to gain in popularity and in utility.

There are professionals throughout the world who ask and argue whether or not data visualization is art because it is driven and contingent upon data, which is mathematical and scientific in nature. No matter where the visualization comes from, it is a form of expression that is expressed artistically and with great consideration for aesthetics.