Under Red Sea, by maruscyaI think working with fractals is very much like the art of nature photography. Nature photography tends to be descriptive, showing what things look like and focusing primarily on the form, color and interesting situations that one finds in the natural world. Sometimes you see a really startling photo that expresses … Continue reading
It’s all about avoiding the insulting label "Eye Candy" isn’t it?
The Mona Lisa is famous for her “mysterious smile”; but is that enough to make it a great work of art?Isn’t it just old-fashioned eye candy and in fact (I deal in facts), not much different than the portraits produced by the famous photographer, Yousuf Karsh — and perhaps not even as good as that? … Continue reading
My What a Big Fractal You Have #2
If someone was to print out my images and see something more, or less, than is visible on the computer screen, I’d say stop looking at prints and stick to what you see on your monitor — that’s the real thing. Whatever extra shows up in a print is just artifacts, by-products — as artificial … Continue reading
Long Day’s Zooming into Night
Hey, look at me! I’ve got texture! Terry, Whoa. That Algorithmic Worlds thing of Sam’s is just the sort of thing I was talking about. If it wasn’t for guys like Sam I’d say Ultra Fractal was the biggest software rip-off of all time. As for texture; Even Mondrian’s plain colored squares with black outlines … Continue reading
My What a Big Fractal You Have #1
No art, Sherlock… Tim, I really enjoyed your last post. I, too, have been thinking about the desire some fractal artists have to reveal more of their images in ever expansive detail. The methods fractal artists use for doing so seem to vary. Some prefer to draw the viewer into the act of making the … Continue reading
Sterling-Worlds – Interactive Fractal Art
Climb the mountain, explore the caves, or check out the little islands off shore… Just load the parameter file (shellcity02.loo) into Sterling2 and this whole little world is yours. Fractals are a unique form of artistic imagery. They are more like sculptures and dioramas than the flat, static paintings they are often presented as because … Continue reading
Sterlingware Reloaded
Made in Sterling2(parameter file: shell01.loo ) That great fractal classic by Stephen Ferguson, Sterlingware, has been been reconfigured by Tad Boniecki (aka Soler7) with 50 new formulas and released for download as Sterling2. And it’s totally free too. Now many of you will know me as a sort of Sterlingware sage; the renowned author of … Continue reading
Jim Muth: The Original Fractal Blogger
Snake Tree by Jim MuthFractal of the Day: 4-12-97 I’ll try to post a different image every day, until I make my point that complicated formulas are not necessary for new and unusual fractals. It appears that Jim Muth has yet to make his point, although, come April, he will have been posting his fractals … Continue reading
Fractal Woodburning
I’m not making this up. I went surfing about to see what I could find in the fractal world and lo and behold at Flickr, a couple of pages into a search on the term “fractal”, I saw wires, boards and strange, curly burn patterns. photo by Aether Photo caption from Aether’s Flickr page: did … Continue reading
Short Takes: What I Like
Orbit Trap recently passed 100,000 hits. Tim and I would like thank all of our readers for your ongoing support (or lack thereof), and we both look forward to exploring fractal art “to its hiding place,” as Dr. Frankenstein says, in 2009. I thought I’d begin the new year by dispelling an apparent misconception that … Continue reading
Apophysis Vs. Photoshop
Fractal Tiger by Richard Diggle (ricdiggle)Yes, it’s finally come to this. Apophysis, and all flame fractals have been replaced by a single Photoshop filter. Of course this new photoshop filter, Fractalius, by Redfield Plugins undoubtedly owes it’s existence to that great inferno of flame fractals, Apophysis. Just as the name of the filter suggests, flame … Continue reading
Classic Fractal Art by Jock Cooper
fractal-81786 by Jock Cooper (click for full-size image) I’ve reviewed Jock Cooper before. But for those artists who are multi-talented, I simply have to have multiple reviews. Previously I reviewed Jock Cooper the Innovator; the artist who created surreal machines and leading edge fractal animation in full multimedia. This time it’s Jock Cooper the Old … Continue reading
Of Calendars and Kings: Avalanche Publishing and the Fractal Universe Calendar
And he’s not even joking. [Cover seen at Comic Coverage.] i can’t believe this is still an issue.–Michael Faber, comment on wedreamincolor If if [sic] means anything to anybody, the contract between the Publisher and Editor will not be changed.–Panny Brawley, FUC Editor, comment on Ken Childress’ blog, 3-16-08 I feel your pain, Michael. I, … Continue reading
Another Scammy Contest, Or Just A Little Fun?
Chrimbo-Tree by twinbee posted to Fractalforums.com “Cash prize has swelled from $10 to $20 now” “Yes, there’s prizes. However, to be eligible, I need at least 2 entries.” “Prizes include… …Brand new optical illusions I created myself (I usually charge for these from my site)… …Lifetime subscription to MegaDJ. This will only be useful if … Continue reading
Holiday Road Trip
How much further or at least self-similar? [Image seen on a-line skirt.] Hi kids. Time to pile into the OT station wagon and take that holiday trip out on the fractal art information highway. Let’s see who’s in mood for giving or receiving this year. Forget that blurred Autobahn scenery. We taking our time lounging … Continue reading
Deep Deep Smashing
Milk Spill. High-speed photography by Michele M. Ferrario. It’s as though the creative process is no longer contained within an individual skull, if indeed it ever was. Everything, today, is to some extent the reflection of something else.—William Gibson, Pattern Recognition Everyone knows you can’t cry over spilled milk. But, apparently, you can observe its … Continue reading
The Multimedia Talents of Stephen Ferguson
I think there are few people in the Fractal Art world today who have such a wide range of talents as someone like Stephen Ferguson. While Steve is mostly known for his programming and mathematical skills which were so clearly displayed in his creation of the very popular fractal programs Sterlingware and Tierazon back in … Continue reading
Vote-Spamming: Or How To Know You’ve Hit Rock Bottom
A recent online poll: Is Vote-Spamming a Problem?Yes – 32 votesNot sure – 18 votesNo – 1,456,776 votes “Any contestants found spamming to obtain votes will be disqualified from the contest.”I read this in the rules, does this mean I can’t tell my friends about the contest?We welcome you to invite your friends to visit … Continue reading
The World According to Fractalbook
****V**** is for Victory [Image initially seen at the Sun Gallery.] The best lack all conviction, while the worstare filled with passionate intensity.—William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming” Fractalbook is Facebook on fractals. Fractalbook has little to do with fractals, and even less to do with fine art. Fractals may be a common hobby that … Continue reading
Big Changes Proposed for the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest 2009
I’m sure that the decision to go offline this year was the just the thing they all needed to do some really serious thinking and re-engineering of the contest. I really admire people who are honest enough to just wipe the whole slate clean and start all over again. The whole issue became so sensitive … Continue reading
Deep Deep Zooming
Neurons [Microscopy by Dr. L. Blood] I pursued nature to her hiding place.–Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Many things previously called chaos are now known to follow subtle fractal laws of behavior. So many things turned out to be fractal that the word “chaos” itself (in operational science) had redefined, or actually for the FIRST time Formally … Continue reading
Fractal Web Rings Are For Suckers!
(photo by Kyle Flood) Yes, the internet has changed quite a bit over the years and the only purpose those web rings serve anymore is to drain away visitors from your site and pour them into the web ring. Joining a web ring and putting their link banner on your site wouldn’t be much different … Continue reading
Stone-Cold Fractals – An introduction to the lapidary arts from a fractal perspective
(Editorial Note: This is our first Guest Posting. Orbit Trap welcomes submissions for Guest Postings from anyone on any fractal related topic. Publication is not guaranteed and is solely at the discretion of the editors. If you feel you are in a position to offer some special insight on a fractal related topic and would … Continue reading
Son of Klee!
20080308, by Samuel Monnier, 2008 (Click for larger image) Why? Because of the playful abstract shapes and the rich textured and detailed surfaces that one commonly finds in the work of both these talented artists. Their mutual connection with the land of Toblerone is just a coincidence, I’m sure. Sorry. No more Swiss jokes. Here’s … Continue reading
"I Don’t Have to Show You Any Stinkin’ Software"
If you’re the fractal police, where is your software? Aaah, leave it to the cutting edge crowd over at Keith MacKay’s idreamincolor forum to ask the big questions and come up with the big-headed answers. Over a month ago, MacKay posited this head-scratcher: Lately I have been wondering if we have seen everything that fractal … Continue reading
An Eniwetok Atoll of the Mind
icecap02.loo In Mandelbrot’s greatest scenes we seem to seethat stunning moment in whichmathematics becamefissionable They pour upon the monitordice roll symphoniesparameter poweredplutonium geraniumsperfect in dirtless reality I have seen the brightest minds of my generationmouse-click crawlingdown the spiral streets at dawnlooking for that heavenlysomething that isn’t self-similar The spiral twists and tricksus into twisting along … Continue reading
Image Of The Week: 20080224-01
Hey, that’s the name Paul DeCelle gave to it. I kind of like the serial number, date-stamp theme. Didn’t many of the great classical composers give their works names like, “Symphony #4 in A minor”? This recent work by Paul DeCelle (Feb. 24th, 2008, maybe?) is exceptional in many ways. First off, it’s a nice … Continue reading
Guerrilla Fractals?
Bee Pole by The Jafagirls No review this week. But will you settle for a meditation instead? If we assume that fractal art is indeed a legitimate fine art form — and I do — then every facet of fine art must be open to fractal art. I’ve argued in a previous OT post that … Continue reading
Fractal Art is Worthless
Why? Because you can’t sell it! Why not? Because Fractal Art, like all digital art, is easily reproduced, that is, displayed on a monitor or printed out — again and again! Need some more explanation? Digital Art is really a computer file. An oil painting is really — an oil painting! That’s not enough? Here’s … Continue reading
Does Jos Leys Have Super-Powers?
It was a dark and stormy night. Inside the castle, the notorious Dr. Leys was busy working away in his laboratory. Either by serendipitous discovery, maniacal experimentation, or exhaustion brought on by long bouts of feverish fractal rendering — an Ultra Fractal parameter file fell into the POV-Ray Raytracing program …and began to grow. Well, … Continue reading
Review of the Week: The 2007 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest Exhibition
I find art is best contemplated while jogging… They say you learn something new every day. Today, I discovered it’s not easy to write a review of an exhibition I never actually attended. Then again, it’s impossible to actually attend an exhibition when you don’t hear about it until seven months after it has closed. … Continue reading
Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest 2008 Cancelled
How could this have happened? I really thought this was going to become a regular part of the Fractal Art world, but I guess that was too much to hope for. What could have gone wrong this year? How did this happen? Let me count the ways… Artistically Anemic: I guess when you make the … Continue reading
Fractal Printmaking
Hey fans. Welcome back to the award-winning Image of the Week series here on Orbit Trap — your one stop clearinghouse for all things fractal. Today’s King for a Week is none other than the famous Mr. Velocipede, an artist of many mediums and styles of which Fractal Art is just one of them as … Continue reading
My Art is Red Hot, You’re Art Ain’t Diddley-Squat!
Bloody Sunset In the year, 2008, Fractal Art is boring. It wasn’t always like that. There was a time when Fractal Art was exciting. But that was just because it was new. Now the excitement is found only in a few enclaves high in the mountains; hard to reach, remote, inaccessible places. From my mountain … Continue reading
And 6 More Reviews Using 6 Words
A Bride’s Night by FarDareisMai No more Starbucks for flower girls. Fractal Image 2766 by Jock Cooper Well built. Dual core. Intel Inside. The Sun is Playing by Elizabeth Mansco Heat index blues? Hit the beach. the lair by smithgiant Hello? Tree surgeon? I have a problem. Mediterranean Lands by Fernanda Steele Google Earth? Give … Continue reading
Image of the Weak: Fractal Art
I used to go hunting for exciting new images. Now I’m content if I can just find something that looks different. I don’t care if it’s great or not. The Golden Age of Heroes is OverGuido Cavalcante summed it up quite well two years ago while writing on a related topic, that being the pursuit … Continue reading