There’s actually a lot of goldmines out there in the outer reaches of our computer system. None of us have been to all of them, but we’ve all been to some of them. I don’t know where exactly this one is, but you can find all the scenes from it here. This is what’s written … Continue reading
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 which describes it as full of the most visually arresting fractals. Let’s see if you agree. Here’s a sneak peak: … Continue reading
Such simple rendering and yet, such powerful rendering. Remember, most of MC Escher’s great drawings were done in pencil, so there’s no reason why a grayscale or monotone image has to be dull. Just look at the detail in blob’s image, how it’s all over the place in every nook and cranny and has such … Continue reading
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 latest it iteration. After a few thousand bulbs and boxes replete the gallery coffers of Fractalbook, will these once novel … Continue reading
What exactly does it mean to be un-Cola? Cola drinks, like Coca-Cola, are dark-colored and contain caffeine. The opposite would be light-colored without caffeine? But both of them are sugary, carbonated drinks sold on the same shelf and dropping out of the same vending machine, or at least side by side vending machines (7Up is … Continue reading
I’ve been looking at some mash-ups lately on Flickr ….and I was browsing around on Samuel Monnier’s site ….and July 4th, Independence Day in the States is coming up, …which is similar to Canada’s own national holiday on July 1st called Canada Day … I thought, “America Day” …and here’s two images of that great … Continue reading
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, one idea we knocked around was to post an occasional fractal art photoblog — that is, allow the blog to … Continue reading
The first time I saw an image made in FractalWorks it was in the gallery section of Fractalforums.com. I was impressed and yet, I couldn’t quite figure out why I was so impressed. There wasn’t anything really special about it and yet there was something really special about it. It was one of those “height … Continue reading
I want to talk about the money in fractal art. Where in the fractal world is there any sort of commercial success? I don’t mean someone making some trivial amount of money, I mean someone making enough money to, as they say, quit your day job, kind of money. Of all the artists, programmers, publishers, … Continue reading
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) gets a name change and a new coat of renders. But kick those familiar, sappy, spiral tires — and it’s … Continue reading
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.] Apparently, the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest Exhibition has begun. Of course, you’d never know this from checking the … Continue reading
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 ballet. She links to an entry in her Sketchblog where she outlines the genesis of the mixed-media performance as follows: … Continue reading
Have I mentioned what a great addition to the fractal world Fractalforums.com is? As someone who likes to review exciting new things in fractal art it’s really made my job much easier. Before, I used to wander around Flickr or check out links on the UF mailing list or just stumble on something while surfing … Continue reading
A review of the new Kaleidoscope (escape-time) IFS fractals posted to Fractalforums.com by the user Knighty. Superb coloring and seemingly endless variations of this formula make Knighty’s work well worth looking at as well as an inspiration to others like Subblue, some of whose work is also included. Continue reading
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 scope of patents. The decision could have profound implications pertaining to the legality of free software — and possibly have … Continue reading
I often find myself preoccupied with justifying fractals (and other types of computational imagery) as art; trying to link fractals with the larger stream of visual art that has flowed and enriched (and provoked) our culture since pre-history. I don’t know why it nags me so much. I don’t think most fractalists are very concerned … Continue reading
For his work in discovering the Mandelbox formula of 3-D fractals, the winner is Tom Lowe, better known on Fractalforums.com as Tglad. Now some might ask why Daniel White and the Mandelbulb Team weren’t this year’s Nobel recipients, but while the Mandelbulb discovery was truly the most exciting event in the fractal world this past … Continue reading
I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden there’s a new crop of 3-D fractals sprouting up and they’re seriously amazing. I’ve seen 3-D fractals before but these Mandelbulb and Mandel-box things have taken 3-D to a whole new level of sophistication. The best phrase I can think of to describe them is Majestic Panorama. It’s like a glimpse of a new world not merely a new rendering technique or formula. Continue reading
I found this email in my inbox just yesterday and quickly felt my fractal art commentary sap rising boldly in my branches. Here, read it carefully and see if it has the same Spring-Time for Fractaland effect on you: FractalForums.com Spring 2010 Fractal Art Competition Submission Period has Ended The Entry Submissions time frame for … Continue reading
Circuit Explorations – Tube Visualization from evsc on Vimeo. Far out eh? Here’s another one… Circuit Explorations – Pixel Visualization from evsc on Vimeo. It’s like a little orchestra or ensemble. Each piece adds something. The mouse cursor is the conductor, but these musicians never make a mistake. I like this kind of hard-core techno-art. … Continue reading
Another program from the extensive digital treasury of Terry Gintz. Unlike Fractal Vizion which contains, metaphorically speaking, a full fractal orchestra, Hydra is a solo performance where the star is the quaternion, a richly talented Pavarotti of the fractal world who needs not even a piano for accompaniment. Perhaps the label Michelangelo of the Fractal … Continue reading
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 discipline, and I’ve presented several examples of what a Phase Two fractal art exhibition might look like. One facet of … Continue reading
For those of you who don’t know… there’s a lot of fractal programs out there! One the most unique is Terry Gintz’s Fractal Vizion. In fact, I’m not sure whether it was intended to be a straightforward fractal generator or some sort of desktop electronic performing arts revue. The program just seems to work differently … Continue reading
There are Cellular Automata java applets, and then there are THESE Cellular Automata java applets! I’m excited. These things are pretty cool. Some of you may have seen them before. They’ve been online since 2002, or so. But there’s certainly nothing passe about them. It’s hard to see anyone passing or even matching the creativity … Continue reading
Of all the things that the Genetic Art java program Kandid does, I had always found (until recently) it’s cellular automata features to be the most enticing and the most disappointing. The cellular automata, true to their synthetic, space age name, looked very computer-ish and although the high contrast color palettes complimented this quite well … Continue reading
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 some of the DA fractal art “masters” to my initial review and hones in on some poor rhetorical strategies of … Continue reading
For those of you young-er folks who have grown up with computers and the internet and consider all that technology and online media to be normal, you don’t know how really dull and boring things were before home computing came along. My biggest technological thrill when I was growing up back in the early 70’s … Continue reading
“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!!!” The series focuses on responding to criticisms raised by some of the DA fractal art “masters” to the review, and … Continue reading
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 a beehive after poking the queen bee in the eye with a white-hot branding iron. I guess that’s what happens … Continue reading
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 author, =Fiery-Fire, self-proclaimed “Fractal Gangsta’,” explain the general idea: In fractal ‘world’ we have a lot of names which are … Continue reading
Now, we all know that it’s our DNA that controls our physical characteristics. DNA contains the information which determines how we develop from fertilized egg to adult. DNA, in turn, is literally coded instructions similar to binary computer code. DNA is encoded using sequences of four different amino acids grouped into pairs. The arrangement of … Continue reading
I don’t like slick computer art but I like Daniel Eaton’s Incendia gallery. The more polished and “professional” computer art gets the more it reminds me of advertising and other kinds of soulless, slithering graphical lifeforms. But Daniel Eaton (aka “Apophysitis”) has somehow managed to construct creative and appealing imagery with a program I had … Continue reading
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 caught in a split-second of illumination. But few have pursued lightning so deeply “to its hiding place,” as Victor Frankenstein … Continue reading
Allow me to play Film Class Professor. Before we dim the lights and roll the film I will give a short lecture which hopefully will enlighten our understanding of these short animations posted below, or, at the very least, become the price of admission you will pay to sit in a comfortable seat and watch … Continue reading
A few years back I was excited about the possibilities of fractal animation. Fractal animation, as I saw it, would be literally living and moving fractals. Fractal artists were about to become fractal film makers and the art form would take on a whole new dimension. And after seeing a couple of very exciting algorithmic … Continue reading
The well-known fractal artist Janet Parke recently stopped teaching her highly popular Ultra Fractal courses at the online Visual Arts Academy. But just this week she has released them in downloadable ebook form for self-study. You can read all about them here on her website. The ebooks contain the text of the courses and are … Continue reading