Numerical Asemics by Jay Block (Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail art by IUOMA member Jay Block (Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA)

 

June 4, 2017 - I can never decide if Jay Block is a pure materialist or a conceptualist. (I have the same problem with Fluxus generally.) I do know Jay Block is very thoughtful so I try to identify an orientation. This piece suggests to me the largely unexplored land of numbers and asemics. I am not exactly sure what that land is or could be, but Jay exposes a shaft of light from it. (I bet the late Bob Grumman would revel in the possibilities.)

Some asemic writers are using numbers (and decomposed numbers) in their works None that I know of have used mathematical sequences (including random number sequences) to build asemic structures. Great work remains ahead.

 

 

Thanks to Jay!

 

[Jay Block]

Had never heard of Oulipo.  Give it to French Intellectuals to develop something toward convolution and the Baroque.  To address your thoughts on whether I am conceptual or material; I use what material that can articulate my thoughts, given what material is at hand.  My fascination with tearing is in the selection of using societal imagery and then joining them into a seemingly functional Renaissance space.  Depth and light are important, but can be manipulated into odd shapes... which is fun.  The Asemic Front is important work, many thanks for your support... your writing is exceptional and I would be interested in having you curate an exhibition on asemics...

[De Villo Sloan]

Thx for the explanation, Jay.

I thought your piece suggested a possible blending of asemics and Oulipo. Oulipo is hopelessly trendy right now, but it is valid in the long run. I am talking about the math constraints parts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo

Thx again

[Jay Block]

Your writings and observations are always an apt pleasure to read.  I do love both idea and object, which has been an aesthetic battle for primacy between Plato and Play-doh.  The numerical asemic is of interest to me, we are long past the pure group of theory mathematicians; just coding a page in html for example, digital imagery or an astrology chart... all are numbers that describe... so idea becomes object. The careful apparent description through numbers is as easily swayed as any alphabet toward chaotic order.

This is a portion of a larger image, there is a top and bottom; much like quarks, that I ripped apart and then sent out. Best to you...j