Knocking on Heaven's Door - Lisa Randall [129]
[ FIGURE 47 ] These early Richard Serra sculptures illustrate that sometimes art is more interesting when it appears to be slightly off balance. (Copyright © 2011 by Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society [ARS], New York.)
Symmetry is also often considered essential to beauty, and art and architecture frequently exhibit the order that it generates. Something has symmetry if you can change it—for example, by rotating it, reflecting it in a mirror, or interchanging its parts—so that the transformed system is indistinguishable from the initial one. Symmetry’s harmoniousness is probably one reason that religious symbols often have it on display. The Christian cross, the Jewish star, the dharma wheel of Buddhism, and the crescent of Islam are all examples and are illustrated in Figure 48.
[ FIGURE 48 ] Religious symbols frequently embody symmetries.
More expansively, Islamic art, which forbids representation and relies on geometric forms, is notable for its use of symmetry. The Taj Mahal in India is a magnificent example. I haven’t spoken to anyone who’s visited the Taj Mahal and wasn’t taken with its masterful orderliness, shape, and symmetry. The Alhambra in southern Spain, which also incorporates Moorish art and its interesting symmetry patterns, may be one of the most beautiful buildings still standing today.
[ FIGURE 49 ] The architecture of the Chartres Cathedral and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel both embody symmetry.
Recent art, such as the work of Ellsworth Kelly or Bridget Riley, exhibits symmetry explicitly and geometrically. Gothic or Renaissance art and architecture—see the Chartres Cathedral and the roof of the Sistine Chapel, for example—exquisitely exploited symmetry as well. (See Figure 49.)
However, art is often most beautiful when it is not completely symmetrical. Japanese art is notable for its elegance, but also for the well-defined breaking of symmetry. Japanese paintings and silk screens have a clear orientation that draws one’s eye across the pictures as one can see in Figure 50.
[ FIGURE 50 ] Japanese art is interesting in part because of its asymmetry.
Simplicity is another and sometimes related criterion that might help when evaluating beauty. Some simplicity arises from symmetries, but underlying order can be present, even in the absence of manifest symmetry. Jackson Pollock pieces have an underlying simplicity in the density of paint, though the impression might first seem chaotic. Although the individual splashes of paint seem completely random, his most famous and successful pieces have a fairly uniform density of each color that enters the work.
Simplicity in art can frequently be deceptive. I once tried to sketch a few Matisse cutouts, his simplest works, which he created when he was old and frail. Yet when I tried to reproduce them, I realized that they weren’t so simple—at least not for my unskilled hand. Simple elements can embody more structure than we superficially observe.
In any case, beauty isn’t found only in simple basic forms. Some admired works of art, such as those of Raphael or Titian, involve rich complex canvases with many internal elements. After all, complete simplicity can be mind-numbing. When we look at art, we prefer something interesting that guides our eye. We want something simple enough to follow, but not so simple as to be boring. This seems to be how the world is constructed as well.
BEAUTY IN SCIENCE
Aesthetic criteria are difficult to pin down. In science—as in art—there are unifying themes but no absolutes. Yet even though aesthetic criteria for science might be poorly defined, they are nonetheless useful and omnipresent. They help guide our research, even if they provide no guarantee of success or truth.
Aesthetic criteria that we apply to science resemble those that were just outlined for art. Symmetries certainly play an important role. They help us organize our calculations and often relate disparate phenomena. Interestingly as with art, symmetries are usually only approximate. The best scientific descriptions