Author: cruelanimal

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…

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…

sbioelements (from Undersea) by Tatiana Plokhova I figured it might be time to return again to examining work that falls into the category of Phase Two fractal art.  Tim laid down the foundation for Phase…

Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle.  Photograph seen on 1000 Stemmer.   Daylight licked me into shape I must have been asleep for days –The Cure, "Just Like Heaven" Dear Diary, I must have dozed…

Back in the Halcyon group-hug salad days of Orbit Trap, I put up a post about titling.  I used my own images (and several others) to investigate whether titles unfairly nudge viewers to the artist’s…

"Think of color, pitch, loudness, heaviness, and hotness. Each is the topic of a branch of physics." Drawing seen on foreignpolicy.com. …into history. From pcmag.com: Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry, has died at…

~/~ Fractal images seen on galleries at the Fractal Universe Calendar page.   I’d mention the artists’ names, but, of course, since the product was meant to be thrown away, like a soon-withered bouquet, no…

If you’re a critic on the Internet, everyone can hear you scream. –Cameron Woodhead, The Sydney Morning Herald Image seen on blog.hr. It should go without saying that when folks speak out about OT in…

Cornelia Yoder: "I was pretty flabbergasted, but did as they asked." It still isn’t safe to wander into your favorite mall gift shop or bookstore.  After seemingly undergoing a well deserved decapitation, the staple of…

I find this work menacing/playful because of the way the optical suggestions of the purity of line makes resonant the larger carcass. Review courtesy of the The Instant Art Critique Generator. The 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot…

My blogging slows down in the summer when other projects get moved to the front burner. But I’m still lurking around. The 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest exhibition begins in a little over a…

I’ve been reiterated from the undead. [Image seen on Amazon.com.] The Fractal Universe Calendar (FUC) returns with a makeover. Previously put out by Avalanche Publishing, it is now under the aegis of Mosely Road Publishers…

Dear Diary, I’ve been thinking recently about the creative explosion of Mandelbulbs and Mandelboxes.  Sometimes, I think they represent the latest new wave in fractal art.  Other times, I wonder if they are just the…

I don’t dislike everything.  The OT faithful probably know from past posts that I often see fractal art works I find interesting. When Tim and I were first forming Orbit Trap and discussing its possibilities,…

Did you miss me? Shot of the 2011 Infinite Creations calendar. [Image seen on BarnesandNoble.com.] Just when you thought it was once again safe to enter your local chain bookstore… The Fractal Universe Calendar (FUC)…

I’m just like the Olympic torch.  I travel the world, and no one knows my route in advance. [Promotional poster for the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest Exhibition.  Image seen on Sandra Reid’s blog.]…

Dance first.  Think later. It’s the natural order. —Samuel Beckett [Photograph seen on Janet Parke’s Sketchblog.] In a post to the Ultra Fractal Mailing List, Janet Parke describes a recent project mashing fractal art with…

It’s mine!!  All mine!! [Image seen on nikadon.com.] Can one patent abstract ideas?  Or claim equations as intellectual property? The U.S. Supreme Court will likely make a decision in the near future concerning the constitutional…

Detail of Tuna by Chris Jordan I thought it might be fitting to once again examine pushing fractal art into its second phase.  Tim laid the initial groundwork for a Phase Two approach to our…

Subtext by EssG This is the conclusion of a series that began with a review of an article on deviantART entitled “People who’s [sic] Fractals SUCKED!!!”  The series focuses on responding to criticisms raised by…

“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!!!” …

Bad ol’ weviewer! You fwighten me! You make my widdle heart quiver! Image by James Cauty.  Seen on Uncertain Times. Well, I certainly started a buzz with my last post.  I feel like I kicked…

We by silwenka Happy Valentine’s Day.  By the way, as fractal art, this piece, allegedly, sucks. There’s an oddly fascinating feature currently on display on deviantART called “People Who’s [sic] Fractals SUCKED!”  I’ll let the…

Lightning Fields 128 by Hiroshi Sugimoto I learned to capture the lightning shock… —Roger McGuinn, “Lover of the Bayou” The fractal properties of lightning have long been evident in dramatic photographs of self-similar jagged bolts…

[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…

A framed print of To the Joust.  My cat studies its intricacies for hours. I’d like to talk about my experience with making prints.  Let me begin by making clear that I’m not claiming to…

La Pietà (1499) by Michelangelo Michelango’s statue is beautiful and well-crafted.  But it is also a widely recognized example of representational art. It can also be interpreted as meaningful.  Even Wikipedia gets it: The Madonna is…

Art and photograph by adak’76 Repeat viewings of the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest winners consistently leave a bitter aftertaste. I’m convinced, especially after reading Tim’s latest OT series on the distinctions between art…

Have we got a deal not for you… Photograph: The Scam Truck by jepoirrier I know how exciting it is when someone contacts you and wants to purchase your work. Who among us doesn’t want…

Ups and Downs.  Design by Roller Coaster Tycoon. The 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest results have been announced.  If you’re a regular OT reader, you already got this news.  We announced it on Thursday…

“It was already dead, so I didn’t see any point in keeping it around.” One of the few extant group blogs on fractal art got its plug pulled recently. This was no surprise since the…

The Garbage Path by Guido Cavalcante [Click on the image above to see a large-scale version.] Editor’s Note: This is a guest posting by Guido Cavalcante. His image was made using Ultra Fractal. Excerpts in…

“I’m the decider!” Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.—Lord Acton The recent revelatory leak that a pre-sorted “winners page” was being built by the director of the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest…

Verdict first. Trial later. I showed in my last post what OT found: a winners page for the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest that displayed current contest entrants placed into three categories: exhibition winner,…

And the winner is… Elvis’ alien clone better move over. What is one to make of this? Just by accident, OT wandered into the “winners” page of the current (and ongoing) 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal…

Swine Flu by Luke Jerram I think Tim’s recent observations that fractal art is about to undergo into a new Phase Two paradigm shift are on target. Fractal art will never evolve beyond a curious,…