{"id":311,"date":"2008-05-17T14:33:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-17T18:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=311"},"modified":"2008-05-17T14:33:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-17T18:33:00","slug":"image-of-the-week-stacy-reed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"Image of the Week: Stacy Reed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

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A Farewell to Regret<\/em> by Stacy Reed<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Popular fractal programs certainly take their share of hard knocks<\/a>. Apophysis, for example, seems to fiind itself frequently floating in critical backwash<\/a>, and here on OT we’ve been known to take a few shots at Ultra Fractal<\/a> (and still have more to say on that subject). But it isn’t the fault of the program if some art communities get overrun with fractal kudzu<\/a> pumped out of these generators like a sewage treatment plant<\/a> running at full capacity. A program is only as good or bad as its practitioners<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In the right hands, any program, popular or not, is capable of producing breathtaking<\/a> work. Sometimes, when I sour on the homogenized<\/a> glut of Apo and UF images crowding the Fractalbook niches of communities like Renderosity<\/a> and deviantART<\/a>, it’s refreshing to visit galleries by artists the caliber of Paul DeCelle<\/a> and Dan Kuzmenka<\/a> to see how Ultra Fractal can be stretched — or to hang out with the Faber<\/a> Brothers<\/a> to remind oneself of Apo’s versatility. Other artists, like Harmen Wiersma<\/a> or Maria K. Lemming<\/a> have forged and found potent individual styles<\/a> that supercede whatever programs they use. These are the kinds of artists I will be likely want to spotlight on a bi-weekly basis when OT’s Image of the Week swings around to me.<\/p>\n

A visit to Stacy Reed’s She Dreams in Digital<\/a> site is a good place to start though. There’s plenty to see (and hear) besides the art, including photos, music<\/a>, informative articles, engaging links<\/a>, and a desk even messier than my own<\/a>. But it’s Reed’s art made with Apophysis that keeps me clicking my bookmark.<\/p>\n

At times, Reed’s work reminds me a little of Karin Kuhlmann<\/a> (see Blackbird Fly<\/em><\/a>), although Reed prefers a less painted and more unsaturated look<\/a>. Reed also, to my eyes anyway, creates more tension and energy in her work than most Apo users can muster. This is likely achieved through careful attention to both perspective and absence<\/a>. Look how measured placement of light draws attention to the focal points in Abstract Fractal — Flora<\/em>l<\/a>. Reed tells us she’s just “messin with stuff,” but I expect a keen eye complements serendipity here. Seduction<\/em><\/a> is another stunning, minimalist image where absence<\/a>, light, and (especially) motion powerfully evoke mood. <\/p>\n

Reed is also drawn to including lyrics or poetry (as in the featured image above), usually by others, to accompany some posts in order to highlight correspondences. And, although I’m not much taken with mixing generated fractals with RL material<\/a> (and here’s a good objectification<\/a> of why), the faint suggestion of sunlight and clouds<\/a> nicely calls attention to the recherch\u00e9<\/span> detail in Mystical Tree<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

Have fun exploring Reed’s blog\/site. Prints<\/a> are available. Don’t blitz by the sculptures<\/a>. And be thankful that her desk is not as messy<\/a> as it used to be.<\/p>\n

Tim will be back next week to review another image and artist. Until then…<\/p>\n

Tags:<\/strong> fractal<\/a>, fractals<\/a>, fractal art<\/a>, art review<\/a>, stacy reed<\/a>, she dreams in digital<\/a>, apophysis<\/a>, ultra fractal<\/a>, add more absence<\/a>, cruelanimal<\/a>, orbit trap<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Farewell to Regret by Stacy Reed Popular fractal programs certainly take their share of hard knocks. Apophysis, for example, seems to fiind itself frequently floating in critical backwash, and here on OT we’ve been known to take a few shots at Ultra Fractal (and still have more to say on that subject). But it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/AFarewelltoRegret_SReed.jpg?fit=500%2C375","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":688,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=688","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":0},"title":"Selected Shorts","author":"cruelanimal","date":"10 January, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"[Photograph seen on Manshion.] Here are some selected shorts. Apparently, I have no grand vision to impart to start the New Year. ~\/~ Orbit Trap has published several recent posts exploring the nature of fractal art, and Tim explicated an image by Guido Cavalcante and analyzed its artistic expression.\u00a0 In\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"The Google Search Engine by Garth Thornton","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/TheGoogleSearchEngine_sm.jpg?fit=450%2C360&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":409,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=409","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":1},"title":"Fractal Art Without a Computer?","author":"Tim","date":"11 September, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Could this work be described as ...Fractal?Admiral Otto Von Howitzerhead by Kris Kuksi 2009Samuel Monnier, writing at Algorithmic Worlds, his new website - gallery - and blog, said some very interesting things about the fractal nature of sculptures done by Kris Kuksi.\u00a0 Sam said that Kris Kuksi's scuptures \"are very\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5075,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5075","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":2},"title":"The Synthetic Aesthetic – Part 1","author":"Tim","date":"22 August, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is another one of those theoretical postings; you might want to skip it and go look at some fresh fractal art instead.\u00a0 But if you're still interested, in this posting I intend to examine what fractal art has come to be and show that this evolution of the art\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/jhl16.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":328,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=328","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":3},"title":"Ultra Fractal 5 — For Engineers Only!","author":"Tim","date":"8 July, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I think the developers of Ultra Fractal 5 have fallen into the trap that has plagued fractal programs from the earliest days: overly complicated, user-dependent configuration.I have always gotten the feeling, the several times I've tried out Ultra Fractal, that it was designed for people who weren't like me. With\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=328#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5109,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5109","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":4},"title":"The Synthetic Aesthetic 3: Ultrashop and Photo Fractal","author":"Tim","date":"3 September, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the third part of a series on The Synthetic Aesthetic: artwork which is mechanically made as opposed to handmade ( Part 1 \/ Part 2 ).\u00a0 Fractal art borders on this synthetic realm because it is one of the most powerful tools for the computational generation of imagery.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5109#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/20061012-vor10-by-Samuel-Monnier.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5485,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5485","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":5},"title":"Let’s face it: Fractal Art really is a Computer Science Club","author":"Tim","date":"17 September, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Fractal art got the boot a long time ago... Let me start with an interesting quote from the (archived) Wikipedia talk page: This article should probably be merged with fractal.\u2014Eloquence 17:12, Dec 23, 2003 (UTC) It's the very first comment on Fractal Art's Wikipedia page.\u00a0 I love the irony of\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5485#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/one.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}