I remember the great arrival of the prose poem. I was taking a poetry “workshop” and there, suddenly, on a page in the poetry anthology was a clump of text without any explanation. This fragment of text, which was actually shorter than the poem on the facing page, had a title at the top, just … Continue reading
The Continued Fall of the House of Usher
All text taken from The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe, more or less… Technorati Tags: Fall of the House of Usher, Illustration, gothic horror, gothic lying, Edgar Allan Poe, Sierpinski things, Poe to go, Classics Illustrated, Classics Defibrillated,
How to make Art from Garbage
Technorati Tags: garbage, art garbage, my garbage and yours, our garbage, think garbage, what price garbage?
Crumblescape
All text from The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe (in case you thought I wrote it…) Recipe for Crumblescape-Take any image, process 7 or so times with multicrystal.8bf (by Illyich the Toad)-Process with Extractor 1 (Mario Klingemann, VM Toolbox), adjusting for optimal effectVariation: use Mirror, Mirror (by Alfredo Mateus) … Continue reading
Better than Escher?
Yes, but let’s give the old guy credit for having to work with such primitive tools — like himself. That’s right; I don’t have to calculate or plan anything in my own head like what’s-his-name did. With a single, thunderous click I unleash an awesome whirlwind of mathematical calculations, the simplest of which would leave … Continue reading
Nobody said a word, but I knew
There was a time when the radio made pictures. There was a time when you could see the sounds you heard. You could look at the radio waves. Abandoned now, the memories still exist. Ask anyone, like me, around my age, how the radios at one time used to come with a little TV screen, … Continue reading
Are you ready for bubbles?
bubbles03.loo I don’t know what made me pick up Sterlingware again. After a year or two of experimenting with the formula parser in Inkblot Kaos and Tierazon and a whole bunch of photoshop filters, Sterlingware didn’t seem exciting anymore. Once again, I’d thought I’d squeezed every good thing out of Sterlingware. Sure, like every progam … Continue reading
Incoming
Incoming (1999) Duck and cover, Orbit Trappers. There’s been some shelling this week on the Fractal Universe Calendar front. Although I noted that the current Fractal Universe Calendar editor should presume she has been contacted with the questions raised in my last post, I would describe the response so far as tepid. To speed things … Continue reading
Postcards from the Future
Technorati Tags: art contest fractal art contest humour humor art humour the art of humour say it with dogs
Springtime on the Fractal Plains
Technorati Tags: say it with flowers, say it with carrion, postcard, art contests, fractal art, fractal art contest, what's suzy eating?,
Post-Card
Technorati Tags: fractal art, digital art, illustration, postcards, say it with flowers, say it with insects, slugs, confucious, art judges, contest judging, art contest,
Facelift
Facelift (2008) The call has sounded again for the 2010 Fractal Universe Calendar. And the website for all things FU has been given a text-heavy facelift. But peel away the new cosmetic facade, and nothing has changed. The FU folks get really upset if you call this whole shebang a contest. Check our archives for … Continue reading
Secret, Invisible and Ever-Unknown
Photographed by Sterlingware, the Hubble Telescope of Fractals (Sterli12.loo) Technorati Tags: fractal art, great fractal art, really really good fractal art, the best fractal art, the apex of fractal art, greatest fractal art ever, bow before me — mortals!,
The Bird That Gave Birth to the Moon
Click for Sterlingware Parameter File There is a new legend that tells how a bird gave birth to the moon. For thousands of years the bird had laid eggs and all of them had been eaten by animals in the forest. The bird started by laying eggs on the ground, which were of course quickly … Continue reading
Temple of Saturn
Brought to you by the proud sponsors of the 2012 Olympic Clickism Team! [Your Company’s Name Here] I’m trying to get Clickism recognized as an official Olympic sport. Of course, if that happens I probably won’t even qualify for a spot on my country’s first official team to compete at the next Olympics. The competition … Continue reading
Troll Prima Donna
Troll Prima Donna (2000) Another paradigm shift: trolls are hecklers. They aren’t satisfied with the nearly infinite opportunities on the Internet to build their own spaces and places and express their views. They’d rather steal our voice and burn down our house. Anyone who starts a blog, especially one functioning in part as a whistleblower, … Continue reading
Whistleblower
Another paradigm shift: This blog, Orbit Trap, is a whistleblower. I think that’s why there’s been such hostility to it and such little open support. That’s always the way it is with the unpopular role — of whistleblowing. from Wikipedia.com Whistleblowing, by it’s very nature occurs in environments in which power is monopolized and everyone … Continue reading
Fractalbook
Hi, my name’s Suzyfrak745632 My latest paradigm shift: The online fractal “art” world is primarily a social network where one’s “art” is used to gain admission to, and build a network of friends. My impression is that something like 90% of all the fractal “art” activity online is little more than an attempt to participate … Continue reading
Us and Them
Aigaios (2008) All I want is some good Clean Fun All I want is some Good Clean Fun–Descendents, “GCF” It’s not torture when we do it… —Bark of the Moonbat (and countless others) When so many love you, is it the same? —Neil Young, “Cowgirl in the Sand” ~/~ Reader Toby — Orbit Trap’s wanna-be … Continue reading
The Algorithmic Circus
TieraZon, uscomic.8bf, XnView text – all three-rings Technorati Tags: fractal art digital art tierazon algorithmic art circus balloons popcorn candy floss…
I’ve got a new filter!
From Terry Gibbons’ The Visual Index of Science Fiction Cover Art I don’t know exactly how it works, but where there’s math… there’s fractals! Sure, the math folks will argue with me, but like all great minds, I don’t expect to be understood in this lifetime (or solar system). How does it work? Start with … Continue reading
Ashes to Ashes, Pulp to Pulp
From Frank Wu’s collection of Frank R. Paul’s Golden Age Sci-Fi Pulp Covers “The sages of Calisto were super-intelligent and had become so far advanced in the Sciences that there was nothing more for them to achieve. They had then moved on to the Arts. Rega, the sociable one who had helped me repair my … Continue reading
"The Best Fractal Art Ever Created"
Well, it’s an exciting neck and neck (sea)horse race over at the idreamincolor forum where the locals are busy buzzing and definitively storming the hive while answering this honey-dripping question: What Is the Best Fractal Art Ever Created? Next week, rumor has it, members will reboot cerebrums to grok something less philosophically taxing…like: Which Is … Continue reading
Painting With Power!
“Great art picks up where nature ends.” -Marc Chagall.8bf “One small step for a fractal artist; one giant leap for Fractal Art” -Neil Armstrong.8bf “The aim of photoshop filters is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” -Aristotle.8bf “What the mass media offers is not fractal art, but entertainment which is intended … Continue reading
Art Without an Audience
Fyre 1.0.1 embedded parameter file When Orbit Trap was started, back in August of 2006, it had always been foremost in my mind that it would be a positive contribution to the fractal art world. What does that mean? To me it means that it would encourage the creation of exciting new artwork. “Exciting”? Exciting … Continue reading
Leave a Light On
Leave a Light On (2008) Reader Toby, in our comments section, has finally taken up the challenge to address some of the points Orbit Trap has raised about the two major fractal competitions. He also added a few additional rimshots for good measure. I admit it’s tempting to rip right into the snark. Wouldn’t everyone … Continue reading
Epilogue
The Persistence of Comments In case there’s anyone still following this latest comment “thread”, here’s the final chapter. Toby sent us his final remarks which he said we could post if we wanted to. Unlike Ken, Toby doesn’t accuse us of violating his human rights when it comes to posting his comments. Toby writes: “in … Continue reading
Read-only Moon
Technorati Tags: digital art terraform read-only moon space exploration space cadet space in my head
Looking for Arrowheads
Made with Fyre 1.0.1. Embedded parameter file. Click, click, click, done. I read onceabout kids who would go lookingfor arrowheads I was a kidso I went looking for arrowheadsalso The arrowheadsare in the groundor just below the surface The shaft of the arrowis goneand the feathers toothe guy who shot the arrowis gonebut the stone, … Continue reading
Odds and Ends
Ah, back to blogging after some wandering in RL wilderness. The holidays nearly did me in. Although anti-depressants are currently weathering a storm of debunkers, their alleged restorative process might be an appropriate metaphor. Getting through the Yuletide Ho Ho Ho-ing took some uptaking. But recovery from Christmassacre required serious re-uptaking. Halloween. Now that’s my … Continue reading
Beware of the Anti-Fractal
I know this will probably crack some folks up at first, but bear with me as I tell you about something that came to mind just recently while browsing the big page of “winners” at the 2007 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest site. First, let me draw your attention to the “anti-” thing. I am … Continue reading
Words in the Ice
Algorithmic Art (art made by machines) is a lot like digital frost. I think almost every photography book has a picture of frost on a window pane. Frost is a mechanical process and is quite well understood but the imagery it produces never seems to lose it’s allure. There’s no Jack Frost or any deliberating … Continue reading
Journey to Mercury
In the spirit of Sindbad, I went on a voyage and just recently, returned. It was a digital voyage. Not really a voyage I guess, but I left where I was and out of curiosity went somewhere different and then here I am again. I journeyed to the edges of minimalist window managers and desktop … Continue reading
It’s Here
technorati tags: digital art | algorithmic art | click art | clickism | illustration | vernissage | photoshop filters
Planes, Birds and Fish
Back in the early 90’s, I went through a 3 year phase when I wanted to become an airplane pilot. In addition to taking flight training in Ontario, Canada (where I live) I also “studied” in Phoenix, Arizona and Hoxie, Kansas where I took some cropdusting lessons. During this time I became acquainted with some … Continue reading
Digital Picture Frames
Frames? Digital Pictures! They really ought to be called something like, “Digital Display Frame” since the “frame” isn’t really digital, is it? It’s the picture that’s digital. But I think it’s an example of how language is a practical medium and changes according to the whims of those who use it, rather than the direction … Continue reading