ART, AESTHETICS, GESTALT THEORY OF PERCEPTION AND THE COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF IMAGES

An LKL Maths-Art seminar by Simon Morgan
Thursday 10 February 2011, 6.00 - 7.30pm

When we see shapes we make sense of them, capturing the essence amid the
details, seeing the wood not just the trees. This relates to the notion
of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts and Gestalt
psychology dating from the pre-computer era. It also places the
consideration of visual aesthetics into the context of objects or images
as a whole. A drawing or painting will capture an essence of the subject
without reproducing every detail.

With a view to generating more questions than answers, we shall explore
connections between ideas of Gestalt psychology theories of perception
to the way computers now use mathematical functions to analyze and
process images. This will take place against a backdrop of considering
how art and aesthetics could fit into the discussion.

BIOGRAPHY: Since he was a graduate student, SIMON MORGAN has been a
frequent contributor to the Bridges Conference on connections between
art and mathematics, as part of an educational geometry project. After
graduating with a PhD in mathematics, he taught mathematics at the
University of Minnesota and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory on
image analysis. He currently works in London, and remains actively
involved with the educational geometry project in Britain and the United
States.

FUTURE SEMINARS: March 10, Mary Harris, 'Some mathematics within? What
actually goes on in some traditional textiles crafts?'; April 14, Nick
Sayers; May 12, Daniel White; June 9, special origami/maths-art meeting
co-organised with the British Origami Society.

MATHFUTURE ONLINE EVENT, SATURDAY 15 JANUARY AT 7.00 PM (UK time): A live discussion with John Sharp. He will be talking about some of his
work on geometry and art, and how the LKL Maths-art seminars developed
from the 2006 Bridges conference held in London. To take part, or watch
the live session go to:

mathfuture

LKL Maths-Art seminars are free to attend, and All are welcome. No
reservation is required, but an email to lkl maths art is
appreciated for planning purposes

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