Extra Credit Event 1: Lucas Blok

For my first extra credit event I visited the Monterey Now Lucas Blok exhibit.

Lucas Blok is a local artist, based in the Monterey area, and is known for his use of color in his works. He typically uses vibrant and highly saturated colors in an attempt to create a "participatory experience that is unique to each individual."

He also typically uses simple geometric patterns in order to create his works. This inspiration is drawn from a display of Amish quilts (which also use simple geometric patterns and bright colors) which he encountered early on in his career and he appreciated for the emotional impact he experienced when viewing them.

This particular work utilizes geometric shapes in the form of rectangles of different colors. Blok uses these rectangles in order to capture the different aspects of music within a painting, which I found to be an interesting and fitting use of mathematics, since almost all aspects of music, such as rhythm or key, all have a basis in mathematics. His use of subdued as well as brilliant colors, he explains, is an orchestration of "rhythm, energy, mood, and atmosphere, as a musician does with sound." The spaces between the rectangles are meant to represent a rest note, whereas advancing and receding rectangles represent the melody.

Blok creates his works with an airbrush in order to produce a finished product which will not distract the viewer with brushstrokes. I learned that he believes his work to have an impact on the human nervous system, and through this impact he aims to expand the perceptions of the viewer. To do this, he arranges rectangular shapes in a way that aims to create "afterimages and vibratory eye movements."

I would definitely recommend Lucas Blok's Monterey Now exhibit. The extremely minimalistic art style and presentation of the works is refreshing in comparison to many of the art exhibits I have visited and allows one to focus on the vibrant colors presented in the works. I found the idea of presenting music through the use of geometry and color a novel and intriguing idea and one that I would not have thought of on my own. Experiencing Lucas Blok's work definitely expanded my imagination in regards to what is possible when it comes to combining art and science, and I'm sure it will do the same for you!