IB Theory of Knowledge - an ongoing list of interesting finds

Ron Eglash is an ethno-mathematician: he studies the way math and cultures intersect. He has shown that many aspects of African design — in architecture, art, even hair braiding — are based on perfect fractal patterns. "When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganized and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn't even discovered yet." TED Talk

With references to historical events and responses from the art world, Art and Architecture critic Philip Kennicott addresses the reactions, roles and potential responsibilities of those in the art community when the world turns "ugly." An excerpt:   "Many artists today are horrified by the current state of political affairs, the election of Donald Trump, the rise and mainstreaming of racist, misogynist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, and the assembly of a cabinet of billionaires whose commitment to the public weal is unknown and deeply distrusted. But if there is collective outrage at what has happened, there is anything but a unified response. Should art be a weapon of mass resistance? Should artists embrace politics and wield the blunt weapons of satire, caricature and scorn? Or, at the far end of the temperamental spectrum, should they preserve the artistic impulse — underscoring complexity and refinement — unsullied by the low and grotesque values that now dominate the...

A look at how writers, painters and composers have obeyed laws of nature for centuries. An excerpt:   "I have spent many years as a mathematician working alongside artists and what has struck me is how similar our practices are. I have so often found artists drawn to structures that are the same ones I am interested in from a mathematical perspective. We may have different languages to navigate these structures but we both seem excited by the same patterns and frameworks. Often, we are both responding to structures that are already embedded in the natural world. As humans we have developed multiple languages to help us navigate our environment." The hidden maths in great art

"In her new book Mathematics and Art , historian Lyn Gamwell explores how artists have for thousands of years used mathematical concepts - such as infinity, number and form - in their work. Here she chooses ten stunning images from her book that reveal connections between maths and art ." History of Maths = History of Art

Edvard Munch’s portrait of existential angst is the second most famous image in art history – but why ? "Beneath a boiling sky, aflame with yellow, orange and red, an androgynous figure stands upon a bridge. Wearing a sinuous blue coat, which appears to flow, surreally, into a torrent of aqua, indigo and ultramarine behind him, he holds up two elongated hands on either side of his hairless, skull-like head. His eyes wide with shock, he unleashes a bloodcurdling shriek. Despite distant vestiges of normality – two figures upon the bridge, a boat on the fjord – everything is suffused with a sense of primal, overwhelming horror. This, of course, is The Scream, by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch – the second most famous image in art history, after Leonardo’s Mona Lisa." BBC Article

Thank you to Braden, who used this piece in his recent TOK essay. A visual exploration of how mathematics and art overlap in photography. The piece also includes discussion on the Golden Ratio, aesthetics and composition.   "Whether the artists were planning the composition on purpose, subconsciously, or by accident, it might explain why they are seen as so good to just about anyone who lays eyes on them." SEE HOW THE GOLDEN RATIO PLAYS A HUGE ROLE IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S BEST PHOTOS FROM 2016

An article that explores the poisonous impact the rhetoric and language of those in leadership can have on populations and mindsets. Rights group Amnesty International has released its annual report in which its findings illustrate that "politicians who have used a divisive and dehumanised rhetoric are creating a more divided and dangerous world."  Amnesty specifically singles out leaders like Donald Trump and those from Hungary, Turkey and the Philippines who it says "have used narratives of fear, blame and division" for their own political ends. An (short) interesting look at the impact leadership can have on shifts in Shared and Personal Knowledge. Divisive political rhetoric a danger to the world

In this piece, author Andrew Postman presents claims from his father's novel, Amusing Ourselves to Death , looks at the "predictions" his father presented about our "current public discourse" - concerns raised over patterns of social, media and personal behaviour in the 1980s.  While many media outlets are making almost daily allusions to George Orwell's famous dystopian fiction, Nineteen Eighty-Four , Postman highlights that it is more of an Aldous Huxley reality we need to fear - that Huxley's novel Brave New World  was a much closer illustration of social patterns than Orwell's text. An excerpt from Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985): "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to pass...

This piece explores the process of finding a "sleeper" (a painting at auction that has been mislabeled or undervalued) and restoring it. When one is found, "they bid for it at a knock-down price before building a case in its favour by conserving it and carefully investigating any leads about its provenance. Upgrading a picture is a form of detective work, and once the case has been cracked, the sleeper can reappear on the market as a bona-fide masterpiece – with a price tag to match...One minute, a painting is unloved and overlooked; the next, everyone is cooing over it and calling it sublime." An interesting look at how perceptions of artwork shift drastically and the role intuition and sense perception play in identifying tell-tale features of an artist's style. How to discover a masterpiece

Quite an interesting look at the clash of scientific knowledge and cultural preferences - claims being made about "strategies" used to conceive males versus those offered by scientific experts.  'Tips' for conceiving a baby boy