{"id":2843,"date":"2011-08-01T12:01:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T16:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2843"},"modified":"2011-08-01T12:01:30","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T16:01:30","slug":"rebooting-fractal-art-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2843","title":{"rendered":"Rebooting Fractal Art: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

What fractals are good for, or,\u00a0the creative use<\/em> of fractal algorithms.<\/p>\n

Fractal art needs a reboot, a re-thinking of what it’s all about.\u00a0 The optimistic forecasts from the early days of fractal art, the coming fame and pubic recognition, needs to be corrected and downgraded in light of what has actually come about in the years since then –actual conditions<\/em>.\u00a0 Today’s fractal artists believe fractals are just another artistic medium like paint, clay or photography and therefore possessing similar artistic potential .\u00a0 They would probably say that the creative potential of fractal art is limited only by the creative ability of fractal artists.<\/p>\n

What I intend to do in this second part of my series is talk about what fractals do best and how that relates to using them creatively –artistically.\u00a0 The down side, what fractals fail at will come in the next part, Part 3.\u00a0 Fractal artists are defensive of their art form because in their minds they’ve elevated fractals to the level of fine art and subsequently made them into something that continually falls short of it’s goal.\u00a0 We need to accept fractals for the simple and fun things that they are and quit hyping them as some new art form with super powers –digital da Vincis.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time…
\nI remember the old days.\u00a0 It was only about ten years ago, 2002.\u00a0 I’d been playing around for about two years with my graphics program, the GIMP, making seamless tiles for web pages.\u00a0 Take any kind of image, apply the “Make Seamless” filter and then load it into a test web page.\u00a0 It was a kind of graphical jackpot machine; you never what the result was going to look like.\u00a0 I did just about anything you could to an image and then, “Make Seamless”.\u00a0 Sometimes the most interesting results were just cutting out a little square and using it as a tile without making it seamless.\u00a0 There were so many creative options.<\/p>\n

I did feel at first that this new background tile thing could be a new and exciting 21st century art form.\u00a0 I was a bit of an art fan and had studied art in high school and read a few books, so I was always expecting somewhere to arise a new “art form”and the start of a new “revolution in art”.\u00a0 But after a year or two I came to see it as a decorative, design sort of thing and lost interest when the styles in web pages turned from being heavily textured, 3D everything to today’s more simpler, subdued styles.\u00a0 Today those background tiles and “left borders” look pretty retro, along with flaming text, turning java-cubes, embedded MIDI files…<\/p>\n

I got interested in fractals, somehow, and settled down to playing a similar graphical game with Sterlingware, a classic fractal program by Stephen Ferguson.\u00a0 Once again, the creative options seemed endless and, if I do say so myself, I think stretched the creative boundaries of Sterlingware as far as they could go.\u00a0 Also, like seamless tiles, making fractals was pure joy and something that was so engrossing you often had to tear yourself away from before doing anything else.\u00a0 There was always some new parameter adjustment to experiment with and who could say what strange new world would grow up from that.<\/p>\n

I saved a lot of images back then.\u00a0 I deleted a lot too.\u00a0 Over the years I came to save less.\u00a0 I came to make the images larger and larger and fewer and fewer.\u00a0 I became more discerning and overcame my “beginner’s excitement”that made me think everything was a great discovery.\u00a0 The images became a bit repetitive as I reached the limits of my experimenting and I tried out other fractal programs.\u00a0 They’re all different in some way but they were all similar in some ways too.\u00a0 One of the ways they were all similar is that the images often looked more interesting when I was making them than they did later on.\u00a0 Especially when I would review an entire (large) folder of them.\u00a0 I used to think this was because I’d lost a bit of my objectivity when playing around in the fractal program and just thought everything looked good.<\/p>\n

Now I think differently .\u00a0 I think it’s because fractals are a more interesting and more creative experience when you can interact with them.\u00a0 There’s a dynamic with fractals that is lost when they’re presented in “static” form as an image separated from the flowing world of parameter changes.\u00a0 Fractal programs themselves are an art form, a generative art form.\u00a0 Saved images can show you what you might see in the program, a sample, but they can’t capture the interactive world experience that makes fractal programs such an engrossing experience.<\/p>\n

The number one creative use of fractal algorithms is the creation of interactive programming.<\/em>\u00a0 That’s the creation of fractal programs to experiment with fractal algorithms and rendering methods.\u00a0 I’m sure an audience would rather play with your parameter file than look at the image you made with it.\u00a0 It’s the difference between seeing an exotic tropical fish swimming in an aquarium and looking at one preserved and mounted on a board.\u00a0 Live fish are a much deeper and more complex kind of object than dead ones.\u00a0 I think of static fractal art images now as “Dead Fish Fractals”.\u00a0 Souvenirs rather than the real thing.<\/p>\n

The real beauty of Stephen Ferguson’s fractal programs, like Sterlingware, or Tierazon is in the using of them.\u00a0 Most people wouldn’t see that as a fractal art form, but I do.\u00a0 Fractals are best presented in interactive form –a fractal program.\u00a0 Personally, I think Sterlingware is the best example.\u00a0 I’ve never seen any program that rivaled its interactive art powers.\u00a0 You can do almost everything from a mouse click.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, today the most common use of fractals creatively is saved images.\u00a0 They never compare to the rich, interactive form and I think the reason so many people make them is because traditionally that’s the form “real art” comes in: a still, captured image that can be printed out and framed just like a portrait can be “painted-out” and framed.<\/p>\n

It probably sounds ridiculous to say such things in the fractal world today, but to experience the highest and most creative form of fractal art one needs to go no further than a fractal program.\u00a0 Fractals are first and foremost an interactive medium, and not a source of wall art.\u00a0 But one wouldn’t expect that because traditionally art is a “wall and frame” thing.\u00a0 This is what I mean when I say that most fractal artists don’t really understand fractals and what their most creative application is.\u00a0 Fractal programs are the real fractal art and fractal programmers the real artists in all this.\u00a0 Sterlingware is such a thrill because Stephen Ferguson understood fractals and how to make them look good as well as how to make it easy and fun for someone to experiment with and explore them.\u00a0 It’s an interactive canvas and the program is the frame.<\/p>\n

But we all know this don’t we?\u00a0 We’ve just overlooked our own experience and thought that what our viewers will want most to see are saved images and not have the fractal “art experience” for themselves.\u00a0 We’ve been showing the world our snapshots when we should have been showing them how to go and see the real thing for themselves. (Or maybe fractal art audiences have been doing just that; sneaking past the art exhibits and exploring the software instead.\u00a0 That might explain why the number of fractal artists is growing while the size of the audience never changes.)<\/p>\n

One could say that there are actually no fractal artists at all because the art is interactive and the viewers are really the so-called artists themselves who operate the programs.\u00a0 We photograph statues and call ourselves sculptors.\u00a0 The real fractal art exhibits are in the programs not in the portfolios.<\/p>\n

Terry Gintz, a contemporary and colleague of Stephen Ferguson made a program that even further shows how the real creativity in the programming and “live” presentation of fractal imagery.\u00a0 The program, (Fractal Vizion, I think) generated random parameters and served up the image for you.\u00a0 I don’t think you could even tell it what formula to use.\u00a0 One of the several types of random images it would make was a fractal “landscape”.\u00a0 It drew it for you and colored it too.\u00a0 Each one was a different landscape and it was fun just to watch the program perform.\u00a0 That’s the sort of thing that exploits the creativity of fractal algorithms.<\/p>\n

Fractal Explorer has a Strange Attractor feature that creates one random strange attractor shape after another.\u00a0 They’re all a little different and none of them looks like anything you’d ever make with your own hands.\u00a0 I went nuts over this thing and saved hundreds of them.\u00a0 But again, as with fractals, I came to realize that the context they were created in was more creative than any static collection I could come up with myself.<\/p>\n

Also by Stephen Ferguson is the “Plum08” java applet that uses the Gumowski-Mira formula.\u00a0 It runs all by itself, initiating when the web page loads, and draws before you an endless series of subtly colored algorithmic sand dollars, african shields and plankton.\u00a0 The artist is the applet.\u00a0 Or maybe Steve, the author, is the artist?\u00a0 (An interesting note is that the applet has no save feature or even a pause button so you can take a screenshot, the applet is entirely something to watch although it’s the most impressive implementation of the Gumowski-Mira formula I’ve seen.)<\/em><\/p>\n

What fractal algorithms can do before your eyes is more impressive than the record of what they’ve done before someone else’s.\u00a0 And the saved images are in a sense, merely a recording of a live performance, and much less than the real experience of being there.\u00a0 The interest in these programs has waned over the years because fractal enthusiasts have focused their attention on making<\/em> “fractal art” rather than playing<\/em> with it.\u00a0 Fractals have become intellectualized and their mechanical programming origins downplayed because they trivialize the work of “artists” by showing how easy and fun the creative process is.<\/p>\n

The Grand Canyon is greater than all our snapshots of it.\u00a0 But the nature photographers want you to look at their photos and buy them and talk about how great they are instead of looking at the canyon for yourself because then you’ll be the same as they are.\u00a0 Ultra Fractal artists even go so far as to copyright their parameter files because they think they actually own the fractal landscape themselves because “they made it” by they punching in numbers that no else had ever (thought) to do, and like Captain Kirk in Star Trek, boldly went where no man has gone before.\u00a0 Fractal artists love to deny their humble origins and claim for themselves what are really the results of publicly owned, mathematical formulas.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, I’m getting ahead of myself.\u00a0 That sort of stuff is for Part 2, where I intend to talk about the things that fractals fail to do.\u00a0 It’s kinda dark and gloomy because this pretense of “art” has put a shadow over the happy land of fractals.\u00a0 But you can still visit that land just by sparking up almost any fractal program and playing around with those creative marvels called fractal formulas.\u00a0 See for yourself what the best part of fractal art is all about.\u00a0 You don’t need a guide and you don’t need to be an “artist”.<\/p>\n

You may already be an artist!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What fractals are good for, or,\u00a0the creative use of fractal algorithms. Fractal art needs a reboot, a re-thinking of what it’s all about.\u00a0 The optimistic forecasts from the early days of fractal art, the coming fame and pubic recognition, needs to be corrected and downgraded in light of what has actually come about in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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-2843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5613,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5613","url_meta":{"origin":2843,"position":0},"title":"Why can’t fractals do what art does?","author":"Tim","date":"2 June, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the years I've come to see this as the perennial problem in fractal art. Naturally there are many other perspectives regarding the \"art-worthiness\" of fractals, among which the most common seems to be that they're essentially no different than any other medium that artists work with. But this doesn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/freak07.jpg?fit=500%2C375&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3009,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=3009","url_meta":{"origin":2843,"position":1},"title":"Fractals: A New Medium","author":"Tim","date":"22 September, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I think I've found a better way to explain what makes fractal art so different than other art forms.\u00a0 The differences are there simply because fractals themselves are a different medium to work with.\u00a0 Fractals are different than paint and canvas or chisel and stone. In fact, fractals are probably\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=3009#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Zon9.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5485,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5485","url_meta":{"origin":2843,"position":2},"title":"Let’s face it: Fractal Art really is a Computer Science Club","author":"Tim","date":"17 September, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Fractal art got the boot a long time ago... Let me start with an interesting quote from the (archived) Wikipedia talk page: This article should probably be merged with fractal.\u2014Eloquence 17:12, Dec 23, 2003 (UTC) It's the very first comment on Fractal Art's Wikipedia page.\u00a0 I love the irony of\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5485#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"two","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/two.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4633,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=4633","url_meta":{"origin":2843,"position":3},"title":"Fractal Artists are Deluded Narcissists","author":"Tim","date":"26 March, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"First, let me explain.\u00a0 I make such a bold statement not because I hate fractals (or fractal artists) but because I love fractals and include myself among the hopelessly deluded. A quaint anecdote I came to this realization in a rather unexpected way: through rediscovering the joy of fractal artistry.\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\/03\/fracto01.jpg?fit=494%2C599&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5672,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5672","url_meta":{"origin":2843,"position":4},"title":"Everything you need to know about Fractals and Art in one blog post","author":"Tim","date":"11 August, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fractals are many things to many people but as an art form they're really very simple:\u00a0 Fractals are a visual medium. Do not be fooled by such simple language and such a simple statement,\u00a0 \"medium\" is the thin edge of the wedge that splits fractal art apart and reveals all\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"322px-Mandel_zoom_00_mandelbrot_set","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/322px-Mandel_zoom_00_mandelbrot_set.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":267,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=267","url_meta":{"origin":2843,"position":5},"title":"Beware of the Anti-Fractal","author":"Tim","date":"26 January, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 9 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 9 comments","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=267#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843","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=2843"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2847,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions\/2847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}