{"id":2130,"date":"2010-12-18T00:06:02","date_gmt":"2010-12-18T05:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2010-12-18T00:06:02","modified_gmt":"2010-12-18T05:06:02","slug":"ultrameta-snapshots-from-a-fractal-walkabout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2130","title":{"rendered":"UltraMeta: Snapshots from a fractal walkabout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes fractal art is just an afterthought.\u00a0 It’s the snapshots we take not because we want to impress an audience but because we want to remember what we saw.\u00a0 Snapshots, like the button in any fractal program says, is “saving.”<\/p>\n

Saving<\/em> is recording but before Recording<\/em> comes finding and before Finding<\/em> comes just wandering around.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s a lot of far-out stuff in Dan Wills’ ultraMeta<\/em><\/a> Picasa gallery.\u00a0 It’s a reminder that fractal art can be just as much about exploring a fractal world <\/em>as it is about that strange, fickle and formal thing called “art.”<\/p>\n

~Click on any image to view full-size on its original website~<\/em><\/p>\n

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jovaNuliaTwo...moonset_probe_pancake_openclose by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

All of Dan’s images here were made with Ultra Fractal<\/a> which surprised me.\u00a0 Of course, UF is a widely used fractal program but these are not widely seen fractal images.\u00a0 But then, I think Dan’s approach to fractals is different; he’s looking to what the formula can make, not we he can make with the formula; the artist as scavenger and collector.\u00a0 Maybe that’s why his images have a more “natural” look to them; they’re not tweaked all over, they’re found<\/em> all over.<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...tennar_quont_slimap_arge_other by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

Glass panes and frost-like invaders.\u00a0 Note the wild variation in the structures.\u00a0 This is not the usual sort of fractal with self-similarity.\u00a0 It’s more like the way frost grows on a window pane or how crystals take shape in natural rock formations.\u00a0 This formula is very creative –algorithmically creative.\u00a0 Where would you zoom into next?<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...tennar_quont_slimap_smimap_kroma by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

“Kroma,” the last word in the (long) working title or rather, simply the filename.\u00a0 I hesitate to say that this is the best one of all but it sure shows the magnificent unpredictability in these fractals.\u00a0 One could spend a good deal of time investigating all the places on this “map.”<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...tennar_quont_slimap_arge_illness_larque by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

What a change from the spectrum-ness of that last one.\u00a0 But here the monotone environment seems to accentuate the details as much as the various colors of the previous one made them stand out in uniqueness.\u00a0 In some fractal places you just can’t lose when you’re looking for something that will amaze you.<\/p>\n

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jovaNuliaTwo...out_tone_blum by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

Subtle coloring, like the very first image, but rather than being dull it serves to shine just enough light on the fractal structures to show their natural wonder.\u00a0 Less is more and here’s a good example.\u00a0 Why should such a well known fractal structure be this interesting?\u00a0 Maybe because we never really knew it.<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...terminal_deposition_ununique by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

From the fiery spirals to caves of ice.\u00a0 It’s a good thing Dan took all these snapshots, otherwise who would have believed such things existed and how would anyone describe them?\u00a0 The best way to tell people about fractal art is, as we all know, to show them some.\u00a0 You’d sound crazy if you had to describe fractals with just words.\u00a0 Again, notice the intriguing lack of similarity.\u00a0 That’s algorithmic creativity.<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...stonk_let_tennar_quont by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

The only one that bears a strong resemblance to any other image, this one looks to me like a bright, starry night sky; frozen, broken, and then put back together creatively.\u00a0 Look at the very top right corner; doesn’t that look like a puzzle piece from something completely different?\u00a0 Even fractal formulas make mistakes.<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...tennar_quont_slimap_arge_illness by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

If you find these images astonishing, then you should view the entire sequence of them in Dan’s ultraMeta Picasa gallery<\/a> as well as some of this other Voyages of Sindbad<\/em> galleries.\u00a0 You may find some of them even better than the one’s I’ve included here, but you will certainly get a better grasp of Dan’s “exploring style.”\u00a0 Like a series of vacation snapshots or the sequence of photos depicting a volcanic eruption, you feel a story unfolding of which you are only looking at a few selected points along the way.<\/p>\n

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alanTIsVeryHelpful...tennar_quont_slimap_smimap_pients by Dan Wills<\/p><\/div>\n

Can you believe this comes from the same group of images?\u00a0 It’s not just a great image because of the color and apparent sunlight effect; the red structures have wrinkles and veins like real leaves do.\u00a0 And they recurse into their own little triangular neighborhoods and window frames like they were grown, cell by cell, into this massive sailing ship of a tree.\u00a0 I’m guessing, but I’d say this image comes from zooming into that “map” (Kroma) we saw in the third image.<\/p>\n

If you’re looking to make a New Years resolution how about taking a little time from your busy fractal art routine and just go on a fractal walkabout<\/a>.\u00a0 You’ll see fractals and fractal art differently; maybe even for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a lot of far-out stuff in Dan Wills’ ultraMeta Picasa gallery. It’s a reminder that fractal art can be just as much about exploring a fractal world as it is about that strange, fickle and formal thing called “art.” Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/jovaNuliaTwo_dotdotdot_rev_went_catAttack_lerghe_siam_moonset_probe_pancake_openclose.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":420,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=420","url_meta":{"origin":2130,"position":0},"title":"Dan Wills: Fractal Columbus","author":"Tim","date":"14 October, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"halleyDetailTwoPointNine... by Dan Wills, 2008-Click for larger view-Like a needle in a haystack, or a glowing needle in a fractal formula, is the rumor of a continent over the horizon or the possibility of some new and intriguing fractal artwork out there, somewhere, on the internet.\u00a0 My impression after browsing\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=420#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2584,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2584","url_meta":{"origin":2130,"position":1},"title":"Are fractals better categorized as Generative Art?","author":"Tim","date":"22 February, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Generative Art is simply a machine whose output has artistic qualities. 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To meet the definition of generative art, an artwork must be\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2584#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/gen01.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4428,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=4428","url_meta":{"origin":2130,"position":2},"title":"Food for Thought","author":"Tim","date":"16 January, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I travel the internet, I make \"Viewmarks\" of artwork worth reviewing, and sometimes I end up with little scraps of things that I just can't seem to fit into a proper blog posting.\u00a0 But I keep them around anyhow because they're food for thought, so to speak; singular ideas with\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/2dbarcode.png?fit=400%2C222&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2843,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2843","url_meta":{"origin":2130,"position":3},"title":"Rebooting Fractal Art: Part 2","author":"Tim","date":"1 August, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What fractals are good for, or,\u00a0the creative use of fractal algorithms. 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This time it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=359#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2622,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2622","url_meta":{"origin":2130,"position":5},"title":"Velocipede Rides Again","author":"Tim","date":"12 March, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"From time to time I revisit places and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr. Velocipede, a long time fractal artist, has reinvented herself and started an new blog with new enthusiasm entitled, \"Oh no, not again.\" Nothing interests me more than seeing someone do something new and different\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Velocipede1.jpg?fit=360%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2147,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions\/2147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}