Browsing fractal sites usually leaves me with a feeling best described by the fancy term, “Ennui“. There just isn’t much originality. I don’t know why. Maybe most fractal artists makes fractal art for reasons other than creative expression or any of the usual motives that lead people to produce artwork. There’s a few notable exceptions, maybe, I guess.

Jock Cooper is one. Let’s just jump to his fractal animations –his latest stuff, I suspect. I discovered these following a link in the comments section of the recent Orbit Trap post, Video Links. Personally recommended links are still the only reliable way to find great things on the internet, especially where art is concerned.

2266 has the best piece of fractal music I’ve ever heard. Fractal music is a very difficult artform, probably because music is more complex than visual art and for that reason doesn’t provide much potential for algorithmic (mechanical) creativity. Music is just different. But as I watched this fractal video the first time (I’ve seen it almost 20 times, now) I just assumed I was listening to something by Erik Satie which Jock had used for background music. It wasn’t until I noticed the ” * with fractal music ” written under some of the thumbnails, that I realized, that Jock had made the music too, and not just the fractal animation.

Anyhow, you can all judge for yourself, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s the Mona Lisa of fractal music, so far, at least. Speaking of Da Vinci, the next best thing on Jock’s site is his machines, his Mechanical Gallery.

I’ve known about these for a while. I suppose they’re not for everyone, but what is? Who would ever have thought the insides of electronic equipment could become an artform? This is very unique, almost surreal, like some sort of alien technology. Many look like photographs, that’s how well the 3D effect has been done. Since the sign says there are 271 images, and I know some of you are pressed for time, I will direct you to some of the Mechanical Gallery’s highlights:

Jock’s got a unique style and that’s something you don’t see much in the Fractal Art world where there’s just so much of, so much of…. Here’s a few examples of this from his Miscellaneous Gallery:

In keeping with his “Renaissance Man”, “Jock of all trades” style (that’s awful, isn’t it?), Jock has a very intriguing, Zoomable Gallery that recreates the awesome depth to fractals that one usually experiences only when using a fractal generator (or when skydiving). These zoomable images display the rich, elegant, spiral-laden artwork that Jock has raised to high level in his Traditional Gallery. Quite a wide range of fractal artwork and styles for a single artist to produce.

As is the case in all high-class galleries and high-class guided tours, we finish off at the Gift Shop. For a mere $20 you can get Fractal Recursions, “the long-awaited collection of Jock Cooper’s fractal animations. Twenty exquisite segments representing over five years of design and rendering have been compiled for your viewing pleasure. The animations you are about to enjoy are the frame by frame calculations of math equations strung together in a digital format to produce unearthly beauty.” At Customflix or Amazon. Jock’s website says that the DVD contains high-resolution versions of the animations (720×480) and also some of his other work. Don’t wait until Christmas, you’ll be sorry.

Tim Hodkinson

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