Date:  Friday, April 2nd
Time:  8pm
Admission:  $5

Phantasmaphile presents this illustrated exploration of geometry with Martin Bland

In his words:

“The beauty of Geometry often defines the framework of the physical world about us.  Objects we handle everyday are comprised of the same repeated ratios and their reciprocals. For example, the apple shown here, when cut in half horizontally, exhibits the Golden Section not only in its pentagonal structure but is also approximated (and even I was surprised to find this) in its growth ratio.

This talk will cover Number and its significance in the ancient world to the present day; Form, wedded to number through the first eleven polygons and their interrelationships; and further, Application, how one may use this information to comprehend and construct space and the objects contained within.

All simplified in an easy to understand form (no higher math is required), this talk is a general introduction into geometry using ancient methods and forms. Marshalling the power of these forms is possible for anyone, one must simply know where and how to go about looking. Although geometric constructions will be shown, the audience will not be “asked to approach the blackboard,” but rather to enjoy some of the author’s curious discoveries along his path towards creating his recent publication.

Though Post-Modernism seems to have failed us, the syncretic tradition is alive and well, as it always has been. The need to focus on what we find in common across various cultural traditions is more important today than ever. Geometry is the closest thing to a universal language that exists and its study as part of a syncretic tradition can be most useful in understanding the world of symbology that we find ourselves immersed in each day.”

About Martin Bland

Martin Bland is an artist who lives and works in New York. In April of 2009 he traveled to the Alhambra in Granada Spain to study geometry with Keith Critchlow. He recently published Useful: a step by step guide to the understanding of generative number in form (Pataphysical Longing Productions 2009) in which a series of polygons unfold, step-by-step, in a single diagram without the hindrance of text as is customary with such works. It is the only book of its kind in publication making it a valuable resource for any library.  www.martinbland.com