Orbit Trap

The only place I ever go on a regular basis to see fractal art is Fractalforums.com. I don't pay much attention to the names only the artwork. So when a name like "reallybigname" becomes familiar…

Some time has now passed since Tim posted his thoughts on "The Fractal Art Manifesto" — basically arguing that Kerry Mitchell’s document glorifies the artist’s role and downplays the computer’s contribution. Mitchell, in a cut-and-paste…

How dare you? Really, really, really… [Image seen here.] It seems a flash mob of Fractalbookers has lowered the drawbridge and surged out of their virtual fortress. Upon hearing Kerry Mitchell’s clarion call on the…

While it may not be as well known today as it has been in the past, The Fractal Art Manifesto, written back in 1999 by Kerry Mitchell, is one of the very few attempts to…

Hi there. I’m sponsoring BMFAC. Send appropriate entries accordingly. [Image seen here.] I guess the 2011 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest (BMFAC) slogs on. Here’s the latest scoops on what’s buzzworthy, overhyped, leaked out, historically…

2766 by Jock Cooper Create your own visual style…let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others. —Orson Welles The premise of this post is quite straightforward. I assert that Jock Cooper’s "Mechanicals"…

What fractals fail to do… You can’t make art with them.  And we all need our heads examined for thinking we could in the first place. I should be a bit more specific when I…

What is Fractal Art Missing? I look at da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and I see something.  I look at just about any piece of fractal art and I don’t see that thing.  What’s fractal art…

  A symbolic representation of the BMFAC judging panel. [Photograph seen here.] The 2011 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest (BMFAC) finally got around to releasing the names of its judges. They are: Honorary Presidents: Michael…

I just think it’s great.  It’s a strange, surreal place, nice composition, not oversaturated with detail and has nice, subdued but engaging color.  Check out the artist’s little story about the image: Description: This is…

Dave Makin tacked the word, “International” onto the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest 2011 in his announcement of this year’s contest at FractalForums.com.  And while the contest could be said to span the globe, the…

Was this object made with fractal hardware? Y by Mark Wallinger. Photograph seen here. Fractal art is a fractal look and doesn’t have to be something rendered from computing a fractal algorithm. –Tim Hodkinson, Orbit…

Responses at Fractal Forums.com to the recent announcement of the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest 2011 suggest to me that a lot of things have changed in the fractal art world since the BMFAC was…

Things More Pleasant Than Thinking About BMFAC Again Dave Makin sent me a personal email to let me know the 2011 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest (BMFAC) has been announced.  I guess he wanted to…

Gero Wortmann, hailing from Munich, Germany may not be as old as me but some of the stuff he makes I really like. ~ Click images to view full size on original website ~ They…

I’ve been trying to reconcile two conflicting things:  Firstly, that there’s something exciting about fractal programs, and secondly, that there’s something quite disappointing about fractal art today. I don’t need to explain why I’m enthused…

Welcome back, readers, to the home edition of the Fractalbook Network’s much loved game show: Name! That! Comment! Now, finally, through the mystery of OT technology, you can continue honing your somewhat-fractal-related social networking skills…

Susitna Glacier Alaska’s Susitna Glacier revealed some of its long, grinding journey when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead on Aug. 27, 2009. I’ll be back…

Something happens to fractals when they start to resemble real things.  It’s sad, in a way, but I think fractal art is limited in its appeal to a wider audience simply because it’s “fractal.” Fractals…

Just when I was beginning to think the 3D fractal scene was plateauing and running out of interesting themes to explore... along comes something sharp.

From time to time I revisit places and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr. Velocipede, a long time fractal artist, has reinvented herself and started an new blog with new enthusiasm entitled, “Oh…

Generative Art is simply a machine whose output has artistic qualities. The Wikipedia page defines Generative Art as: Generative art is a system oriented art practice where the common denominator is the use of systems…

This does not look like an art exhibition. Two photographs of the exhibition of the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest in Hyderabad, India, 2010. Photographs released by Esin Turkakin. Photographs of the showcase exhibition of…

Still so sure it’s a better place to introduce people to fractal art than the (now old-fashioned) information highway –the internet? The recently released photos of the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest Exhibition really underline…

It wasn’t the sleep of reason that gave birth to a monster. Some of Orbit Trap’s critics have taken issue with our claim that the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest (BMFAC) is nothing more than…

I’m sorry, but I can’t give out too many details about the actual recipient because the prize winning  journalist has been keeping  a very low profile in order to avoid “the haters” of the fractal…

Send Out the Probes by Linda Allison No one to date has had a more profound effect on fractal art style than Linda Allison. Her fractals became the template de rigor for the Fractal Universe…

Although it's probably been a perennial theme in fractal art from the beginning, the recent 3D fractal explosion has greatly increased the number of images whose main impression is that of The Strange Place. Because…

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. biblegateway.com The most recent…

Well, the Ultra Fractal Mailing List is at it again. Last time it was opera, but this time it’s bongos, coffee houses and poetry readings. I’ve reformatted the original excerpts to give them that “je…

He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher. —Walt Whitman Style is a fraud.  I always felt the Greeks were hiding behind their columns. —Willem de Kooning Style is not…