{"id":850,"date":"2010-02-22T02:11:58","date_gmt":"2010-02-22T07:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=850"},"modified":"2010-02-22T22:45:56","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T03:45:56","slug":"fractals-that-suck-redux-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=850","title":{"rendered":"Fractals That Suck Redux — Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"You're<\/p>\n

“I know you are but what am I?” <\/em><\/p>\n

Photograph seen on SodaHead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is part of a continuing series that began with a review of an article on deviantART<\/a> entitled “People who’s [sic] Fractals SUCKED!!!”\u00a0 The series focuses on responding to criticisms raised by some of the DA fractal art “masters” to the review, and focuses on some specific rebuttals and the manner in which they were made.\u00a0 For background, please refer to my original review, “Fractals That Suck,”<\/a> as well on the first follow-up post in the series, “Fractals That Suck Redux — Part One”<\/a> that addressed the issue of the “fair use” clause in copyright law and its understanding that copyrighted images can be used in the context of a review or critique.<\/p>\n

~\/~<\/p>\n

Part Two: Kill the Messenger <\/strong><\/p>\n

Historically, delivering bad news has proved a risky business.\u00a0 Omnipotent Wikipedia<\/a> explains why:<\/p>\n

In ancient times, messages were delivered in person by a human envoy. Sometimes, as in war, for example, the messenger was sent from the enemy camp. An easily-provoked combatant receiving such an overture could more easily vent anger (or otherwise retaliate) on the deliverer of the unpopular message than on its author, thus literally killing the messenger. <\/sup>In modern usage, the expression still refers to any kind of punishment meted out to the person bringing bad news, but has taken on an ironic dimension as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It brought me no joy to be the bearer of bad news about the fractal state of affairs at deviantART<\/a>.\u00a0 Still, in almost every case, DA members responded to my critique not by addressing the contentions I’d made, but by attacking me personally, and doing so from a number of fronts.<\/p>\n

Front One:<\/em> My art sucks, so where do I get off passing judgment on anybody else’s art.<\/p>\n

Mikahil Borodin<\/a>, for example, says<\/a><\/p>\n

Before posting stuff like this, make sure your own art isn\u2019t just a bunch of brushes, third-grade fractals and photoshop filters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

suggesting that because my own work more fittingly belongs in elementary school that I somehow forfeit my right to both have an opinion and to freely express it.<\/p>\n

Borodin returns later in the same post to expand his critical assessment of my art<\/p>\n

But then again, if I should do a critique of your works, i would say \u201cGeneric, eyesoring colours, low quality and messy\u201d I would also add \u201cLooks like something that has been HEAVILY filtered in photoshop.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

that, to his credit, does elaborate a bit on the generalities suggested in his first critique.\u00a0I’ll circle round to address his implied criticism of Photoshop filters later in this series.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the act of reviewing the reviewer thrives over at DA and arguably marks a milestone: the appearance of actual negative criticism of fractals on Fractalbook<\/a>.\u00a0 Fiery-Fire<\/a>, aka Iwona Fido, author of the sucking\/rocking DA article(s), says<\/p>\n

They [Tim and I?] not really, that perceptive as artists neither, if you have a look at their own gallery [meaning mine, I think, since Tim and I don’t share one] of ‘so called’ fractals – at first glance I felt pity …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

but doesn’t supply concrete examples of pitifulness like Borodin does.\u00a0 And there are other scattered potshots littered among the\u00a0 DA comment threads.\u00a0 So, given the barbs, how do I feel about these critiques of my work?\u00a0 Well…<\/p>\n

Well…I’ll have to suck it up, shrug my shoulders, and carry on.\u00a0 If I can dish it out, I’d better be ready to take it.\u00a0 Freedom of speech cuts both ways.<\/p>\n

Now, do I enjoy having my work trashed?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 Who among us truly prefers criticism to praise?\u00a0 But I’m fairly comfortable in my own skin.\u00a0 As I writer, I got used to receiving criticism early in life.\u00a0 Rejection slips are unavoidable and toughened me up.\u00a0 I just move on to the next image or poem or blog post or whatever.\u00a0 I trust my instincts and hope my vision is true.\u00a0 As for criticism, I’ll take it, if I feel it is valid.\u00a0 If not, I try to let it drop away and not get in the way of creating new work.\u00a0 As for praise, I’m grateful to receive it, pleased that people like what I did, but I’m sometimes wary of its motive and always aware of its appeal.\u00a0 Compliments, nice as they can be, should not be allowed to get in the way of creative work either.\u00a0 One should not need praise to feel a sense of accomplishment or as any kind of a motivator to begin work on a new\/next piece.\u00a0 And, frankly, I think a constant stream of compliments can be counterproductive — especially if praise become addictive, or should the number of compliments make it impossible to pick out friends from flatterers.<\/p>\n

Besides, criticism has some benefits.\u00a0 It can tone up your work.\u00a0 When creative writing comes back rejected, that’s a good time to look it over, again, with new eyes.\u00a0 Put it through a few more iterations to improve the concept or composition or other elements. In other words, revise.\u00a0 Then send out again to the next editor<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The publishing process has the advantage of keeping earlier iterations of not-quite-polished creative writing in the hands of editors and not yet seen by the public.\u00a0 This allows art to better season.\u00a0 The disadvantage of Fractalbook is that everything falls instantly into the laps of clique members — who may feel in competition with you or have other ulterior motives.\u00a0 Worse, there’s never any motivation to rethink or revise any<\/em> given posted image.\u00a0 Look at the length of that comment thread.\u00a0 Listen to all those oohs and aahs and pats on the back.\u00a0 Every piece arrives fully realized — perfect — just like all the others.\u00a0 After all, not just anyone can be called a “master?”<\/p>\n

*
\nFront Two: Name-Calling.<\/em><\/p>\n

I once wrote an OT post<\/a> about Fractalbook.\u00a0 In it, I traced the origins of online art communities and observed:<\/p>\n

Fractalbookers think Fractalbook has noble, even highbrow origins. Something like a quilting bee<\/a> or a debating society. But even more cultured. Like maybe their own personal Louvre<\/a> where each Fractalbooker can be both artist and patron. Master craftsman and astute critic. Philosopher-king<\/a> and mountain mystic. Pablo Picasso<\/a> and Robert Hughes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But an Art Pantheon<\/a> is not the blueprint for Fractalbook. It has roots in a much more familiar model.<\/p>\n

High School. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I may have set the social development bar too high. The level of discourse coming out from the DA “masters” is often more in the range of a third-grader (ironically, according to Borodin, the prime audience for appreciating my work).\u00a0 Consequently, the rhetorical complexity of\u00a0 most responses rarely rises above a third-grader’s well-known favorite counter-taunt: I know you are but what am I? <\/em><\/p>\n

After all, if you can’t counter or refute someone’s contentions, just insult them or call them names.\u00a0 Let’s go to the video tape:.<\/p>\n

grinning as ever!, who later calls me a “thief,” says<\/a><\/p>\n

Just a knit picking bore! I had loads of fun making fractals! So whats it to you..Mr lonely!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

although, personally, I do not consider the pervasiveness of conformity at DA, seen in the replication of design and ornamentation of style in at least 70 DA “masters,” to be “knit-picking.”\u00a0 I’d consider such a situation more like a viral outbreak of abidance.\u00a0 And I’m sure you had fun making fractals.\u00a0 I’m sure you enjoyed the praise each received, too.\u00a0 I just suggested that one of those fractals might not necessarily rise to the level of being art.<\/p>\n

And what’s one to make of the following paradox?\u00a0 Borodin says<\/a> I am “a complete douche” and then turns around and tells me to “have a nice night.”\u00a0 I’m getting mixed messages here, so I figure it’s a toss up.\u00a0 But there’s no mistaking how Georg Kiehne (Xyrus02<\/a>) feels<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard of your writings in the past but no article has disgusted me more than this. Why do you even read postings on deviantART if you hate it that much? Can it be that there is an attention-addict child on the other line craving for stuff it could rape by twisting others words like the medium-class spirals I see all over this place?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maybe it’s good I can’t quite ferret out the meaning here.\u00a0 Am I the “attention-addict child?” Or am I raping children?\u00a0 Or just raping images?\u00a0 Or maybe raping ideas?\u00a0 At any rate, I hope this is all just a hyperbolic misfire.\u00a0 If not, I find it offensive.<\/p>\n

And the above is just what a few of the “masters” will say to your face in the home of your own blog.\u00a0 Back in the lair of the “masters,” within the paper-thin cyber-walls of DA, here’s how IDeviant<\/a> feels<\/a>:<\/p>\n

As for those wankstains trapped in their own pathetic little orbits, I wouldn’t give them the steam off my fucking piss, let alone the dignity of a reply<\/em> to their lily-livered vitriol \";)\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I want to point out, just for the record, that no one here at Orbit Trap was seeking that particular item in the first place.\u00a0Even so, the remark does seem more than a little…uncongenial.\u00a0 You’d think Ms. Fire, who initiated the post, would want to take steps to turn down the heat a bit.\u00a0 But you’d be wrong.\u00a0 She replies<\/a> that<\/p>\n

Few people from DA ‘reads’ their blog and they commonly known as obsessive ‘trolls’ or attention whores, who are well known for being nasty and mean.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That should definitely help to put out the torches and put down the pitchforks.\u00a0 And, now that I’m cognizant of being an attention whore, let me call attention to how she concludes her remarks<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s true, guys with ‘flashy-sporty cars’ do make-up for other things they don’t have \":lmao:\" in the traps case is ‘talent’ \":rofl:\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

because it brings me to the next category which is<\/p>\n

*
\nFront Three: Call in the Shrink<\/em><\/p>\n

If you can’t refute someone’s argument, but can’t bring yourself to stoop to name-calling, then just play armchair psychiatrist.\u00a0 Since I disagree with you “masters,” I obviously must be insane, neurotic\/psychotic, or somehow psychologically traumatized.\u00a0 In Ms. Fire’s analogy above, it’s clear that the OT bloggers are mentally scarred by having noxious attributes and a truckload of personality defects.\u00a0 We “drive” a hotshot blog because (down deep) we know we are hacks as artists.\u00a0 In other words, we overcompensate for ever-so-obvious moral or physical shortcomings. Well, I think I can see what DA’s Junior Freudians are implying<\/p>\n

Yeah \":nod:\".\u00a0 Ha \":rofl:\".\u00a0 And I bet “Mr. Animal” has a tiny dick, too \":lmao:\" .\u00a0 Ha Ha \";)\" \":nod:\". <\/em><\/p>\n

which, I guess, is pretty funny — if you’re a third-grader.<\/p>\n

Unless, of course, you prefer a much more<\/em> infant-based, pre-verbal humor like that of grinning as ever! who, as a clinically-based comedian but unskilled typist, conjectures:<\/p>\n

gdzsjkvirnsvjxnh kdfojvzx\/locji z kiasdfuvhylsa,cjkhzkudrfhzdfvj ghskobx.n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, make no mistake, there’s no shortage of possible psychiatric profiles.\u00a0 Another favorite, and one long preferred by OT’s detractors, is the “sour grapes” diagnosis — in which OT’s bloggers are either bitter for not winning BMFAC<\/a>, or in a rage for not placing in the Fractal Universe Calendar<\/a>, or are too moody and socially stunted to fit into DA’s social scene and so lash out at their betters, or some other scenario I’d never consider ever wanting in the first place. Here’s a textbook example from rocamiadesign<\/a> who says<\/a><\/p>\n

OGM! I just read the blog, critiqueing your articles and then followed your link to the blogger’s “art”. Ewwwwwww! I think that he’s just spewing vitriol because he’s jealous of artists whose work actually sells.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

meaning, for those of you keeping score at home, that I’m a loser — both as an artist and as an entrepreneur. Since I now assume rocamiadesign’s work, in contrast to mine, sells, why don’t we take a look at it:<\/p>\n

\"Kitties<\/a><\/p>\n

Precious<\/em> by rocamiadesigns<\/a><\/p>\n

No!!! She outflanked me with the cute kitty maneuver. And public taste being what it is, and given the prevailing aesthetics of mass culture, I cannot recover.\u00a0 I yield the field to a superior enterpriser.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, two of the “masters,” highly trained headshrinkers, surely with advanced degrees in neuroscience, consult and come to a consensual assessment, as Dr. Borodin reports<\/a> what he and his distinguished colleague have concluded:<\/p>\n

Reading your articles (not that me or Iwona or anyone else wants revenge or anything like that\u2026.)we have concluded that you are not writing an review about the fractal community, you are boosting your own pitiful little ego of yours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You know, Doc, calling me “a complete douche” is not exactly helping my self-esteem issues.\u00a0 So, I think I’ll get a second opinion.<\/p>\n

Other times, for the more gifted wannabe analysts, the psychological insights can rival those of Dr. Phil<\/a>.\u00a0 Like Dr.IDeviant<\/a>, who, putting aside his urinary tract temperature for the moment, offers this<\/a> extended prognosis without even the benefit of sitting in numerous talking cure sessions with me:<\/p>\n

My ‘shrooms! And I just couldn’t resist a little tirade against the OT crew. I suspect a background in weak political activism or some such, the psychology is so obvious and repetitive, like precocious adolescents revelling in their new-found pseudo-intellectualism whilst simultaneously shit-stirring at the fringe of the community they just cannot join due to their own misanthropy. A serious critic would never adopt that tone without first having been personally humiliated at the hands of the target \":disbelief:\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So I’m a product of my environment, huh.\u00a0 Too much social concern and education?\u00a0 That’s my problem?\u00a0 So I act out by conducting guerilla raids on DA because I’m too much of a misanthropic sourpuss to actually fit in with the other DA kewl kidz as they call each other an artistic “master” and stroke one another’s egos in the hopes of having theirs stroked in return?<\/p>\n

I think all those other egos, each calling themselves “a master,” are probably crying out for help more loudly than mine.\u00a0 And listen, Dr ID.\u00a0 After you write me up a scrip for Zoloft to mellow out my tone problem, do you think you could help out that guy above who thinks I’m a rapist before he does decide he actually wants some of that revenge Dr. Iwona and Dr. Borodin say does not interest them?\u00a0 Thanks.\u00a0 Much appreciated. Now…about the bill…<\/p>\n

~\/~<\/p>\n

So, gentle readers, keep obsessively clicking your mouse like a TV remote and join us for our next exciting OT episode of Fractals That Suck Redux<\/em> entitled: “Text vs Subtext” — plus, for your further enjoyment, a special bonus short called “Who Really Uses Shoddy Tools?”\u00a0 Until then…<\/p>\n

~\/~<\/p>\n

P.S. To be fair, I should add that not every critical response to my post was pitched to a third-grade level.\u00a0 Comments made by Esin Turkakin<\/a> and chiaraLinde<\/a>, for example, were civil, thoughtful, and welcomed — even if I did not always completely agree with all of their points.<\/p>\n

Tags:<\/strong> fractal<\/a>, fractals<\/a>, fractal art<\/a>, fractalbook<\/a>, fractals that suck<\/a>, fractals that suck redux<\/a>, calling dr borodin<\/a>, calling dr ideviant<\/a>, kill the messenger<\/a>, i’m rubber you’re glue<\/a>, shrink this why dontcha<\/a>, cruelanimal<\/a>, orbit trap<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I know you are but what am I?” Photograph seen on SodaHead. This is part of a continuing series that began with a review of an article on deviantART entitled “People who’s [sic] Fractals SUCKED!!!”\u00a0 The series focuses on responding to criticisms raised by some of the DA fractal art “masters” to the review, and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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-850","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\/2010\/02\/IknowyouarebutwhatamI.jpg?fit=320%2C480","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":909,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=909","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":0},"title":"Fractals That Suck Redux — Part Three","author":"cruelanimal","date":"3 March, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Subtext by EssG This is the conclusion of a series that began with a review of an article on deviantART entitled \u201cPeople who\u2019s [sic] Fractals SUCKED!!!\u201d\u00a0 The series focuses on responding to criticisms raised by some of the DA fractal art \u201cmasters\u201d to my initial review and hones in on\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=909#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Subtext","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/subtext.jpg?fit=475%2C315&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":835,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=835","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":1},"title":"Fractals That Suck Redux — Part One","author":"cruelanimal","date":"20 February, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Bad ol' weviewer! You fwighten me! You make my widdle heart quiver! Image by James Cauty.\u00a0 Seen on Uncertain Times. Well, I certainly started a buzz with my last post.\u00a0 I feel like I kicked a beehive after poking the queen bee in the eye with a white-hot branding iron.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 6 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 6 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=835#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tweety Gets a Bad Review","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/tweetygetsabadreview.jpg?fit=450%2C300&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=318","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":2},"title":"Fuzzy Times in Fractalville","author":"Tim","date":"12 June, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"My apologies to jamfancy, Funny Bunny and tibiloo, but I found this online vignette was just too precious not to share it with the loyal, die-hard, though thick and thin, grassroots supporters of Orbit Trap -- the greatest thing since sliced Mandelbrot. (That's a joke on the German word for\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2848,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2848","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":3},"title":"Rebooting Fractal Art: Part 3","author":"Tim","date":"4 August, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What fractals fail to do... You can't make art with them.\u00a0 And we all need our heads examined for thinking we could in the first place. I should be a bit more specific when I say, \"art\".\u00a0 I mean the thinking man's stuff.\u00a0 The kind of image that provokes your\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 6 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 6 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2848#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Beardsley-peacockskirt.jpg?fit=400%2C547&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5929,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5929","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":4},"title":"Is that all there is to Chaotica?","author":"Tim","date":"14 January, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Not too long ago, before the advent of the Mandelbox and Mandelbulb 3D fractals, there were basically two types of fractals and two types of fractal artists: plain fractals and flame fractals. Flame fractals were a very interesting new development because they had a whole new look. They were light,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/chaoticafractals-intro-featured.jpg?fit=407%2C234&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":406,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=406","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":5},"title":"Fractal Art, Phase Two","author":"Tim","date":"3 September, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What? You didn't know even know there was a Phase One? Well, let me begin there, then. At the dawn of fractal art.Phase One, the first stage of fractal art, has been oriented around software. The big developments in fractal art came from developments in the software that made it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=406#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ambaka.com\/blog\/25\/phase2.png?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\/850","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=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions\/878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}