{"id":5434,"date":"2014-07-22T10:14:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T14:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5434"},"modified":"2014-07-22T11:25:29","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T15:25:29","slug":"why-doesnt-fractal-art-have-a-half-decent-wikipedia-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5434","title":{"rendered":"Why doesn’t Fractal Art have a half-decent Wikipedia page?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s useless, and although there have been efforts\u00a0to build something substantial there, ultimately the page<\/a> keeps reverting back to a few shallow paragraphs that fail to even offer a basic\u00a0definition. \u00a0I’ve been going there for\u00a0several years and have always wondered why it never seems to develop into anything, but now\u00a0I think I’ve figured out what the problem is and it\u00a0goes to\u00a0the very heart of \u00a0what “fractal art” is all about.<\/p>\n

\"wpfa1\"

Wikipedia’s Fractal Art<\/a> page<\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike most websites, the Wikipedia documents almost every edit made to its pages and even has a separate page for discussing what should be done to improve the pages or any other “concerns” about it there might be. \u00a0Each Wikipedia page has its own corresponding talk and history page and for Fractal Art it supplies something that is quite rare: serious criticism. \u00a0It’s quite refreshing to see someone besides Orbit Trap actually express some sober second thoughts about Fractal Art. \u00a0Unfortunately, the way the Wikipedia works, it’s unable to take that next step and give a coherent, single-minded expression to what \u00a0it thinks. \u00a0Unless, of course, that mostly empty page on Fractal Art sums up what “the Wikipedia” thinks about Fractal Art; that is, not much at all.<\/p>\n

I’ve chosen a couple of salient incidents from the Wikipedia Fractal Art page documentation to answer the question I posed in the title, “Why doesn’t Fractal Art have a half-decent Wikipedia page?”<\/p>\n

The Rise and Fall of the Fractal Art Manifesto<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to read the whole story, or at least follow the history of edits to the Fractal Art page,\u00a0all you have to do on that or any Wikipedia page is go to the “view history” tab at the top right of the page. \u00a0Click on any “cur” link in the list and then click on “previous edit” near the top of the left column. \u00a0This is what I did and it allows you to then read the editing history “Next edit” by “Next edit”. \u00a0This link<\/a> is to the very first entry,\u00a0the initial creation of the Fractal Art Wikipedia page. \u00a0Click on the “Next edit” link on the right to start your journey.<\/p>\n

This is where I discovered the fate of\u00a0\u00a0the venerable Fractal Art Manifesto (FAM) by Kerry Mitchell and its treatment by the Wikipedia editors. \u00a0I wrote a blog posting<\/a> about the FAM back in 2011 and part of the motivation for that was it’s (at the time) high status on the Fractal Art page where it had advanced from not just an “External link” but was enshrined in its own separate section as you would expect any historic milestone for a subject to be.<\/p>\n

But four years previous to that, in 2007, its presence in the External Links section of the Fractal Art Wikipedia page met this fate by “TheRingess”, that powerful queen of Wikipedia’s Fractal Art page:<\/p>\n

\"Thou

Not Wiki-worthy!<\/p><\/div>\n

As much as I’d like to do the same thing to the FAM, I thought, “What’s wrong with a personal essay?” \u00a0I mean, gee, it’s still worth a link. \u00a0And then I thought, “Doesn’t the word, ‘personal’<\/em>\u00a0describe more or less\u00a0everything in the whole fractal art world?” \u00a0Aren’t all my own (great) blog postings just “personal essays”?<\/p>\n

Anyhow, the FAM\u00a0was resurrected a few years later and even given its own separate\u00a0section on\u00a0the page, as I mentioned. \u00a0To anyone in the fractal art world this might seem reasonable, since the FAM reads\u00a0like it has\u00a0authority and also because there is nothing quite like it in all the fractal art world. \u00a0Like any other art manifesto it seems to define the art form and be, in itself, of historical importance. \u00a0How it got chopped from the Wikipedia page is as enlightening as it is somewhat\u00a0humorous. \u00a0Enlightening because it says something about why fractal art is a difficult subject for things like the Wikipedia, and humorous because, well, just read this item from the Fractal Art “talk page” for yourself:<\/p>\n

\"Wikipedia's<\/a>

Wikipedia’s verdict on the FAM (click to read original text on Wikipedia talk page)<\/p><\/div>\n

Pretty rough, eh? \u00a0But what the Wikipedia editor is getting at here is not a personal attack on Kerry, but rather a professional<\/em> \u00a0attack on Kerry. \u00a0He tosses Kerry’s FAM out the window because he\u00a0doesn’t see any authority behind it. \u00a0That’s why he dismissed the Lulu books: they represent one’s own efforts and not the decisions of an editor and publisher. \u00a0Like Ringess, he just sees a “personal essay”.<\/p>\n

Reliable Sources…<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I’ve come to realize is that the Wikipedia looks to build articles out of what Senor Service referred to in his verdict on the FAM as “reliable sources”. \u00a0And in the fractal art world there aren’t any. \u00a0Everything I’ve ever written would get tossed out the window by the Wikipedia as a “personal essay”. \u00a0The best of us might get our names Googled, but only to discover that we’re all “non-notable”. \u00a0There are no authorities or resources that aren’t merely the product of one person or at best, a group of friends. \u00a0Fractal art has no professional presence or institutions. \u00a0And remember, Senor Service’s Googling was done in 2013, after, not before, the esteemed Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contests and Exhibits of which Kerry was a judge all three times. \u00a0They think that’s\u00a0“non-notable”?<\/p>\n

That’s the big problem with fractal art as far as the Wikipedia is concerned: there isn’t anyone reputable enough to be quoted. \u00a0But that’s not the only problem…<\/p>\n

{{No more links}}<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the years a number of people have showed up and added their own artwork (personal!). \u00a0Some of them were quite relevant, but, alas, charged and convicted with link spamming. \u00a0I often admired their persistence in reposting their links in the External Link section. \u00a0So did “the Editor” who responded, finally, with this warning comment on the editing page:<\/p>\n

==External links==
\n{{Prone to spam|date=September 2012}}
\n{{Z148}}<!– {{No more links}}<\/p>\n

Please be cautious adding more external links.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia is not a collection of links and should not be used for advertising.<\/p>\n

Excessive or inappropriate links will be removed.<\/p>\n

See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details.<\/p>\n

If there are already suitable links, propose additions or replacements on
\nthe article’s talk page, or submit your link to the relevant category at
\nthe Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) and link there using {{Dmoz}}.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But there’s a good Wikipedia explanation for this: \u00a0the Wikipedia is trying to create encyclopedia articles. \u00a0If \u00a0there’s something really good in those links then put it in the article and publish it right here on the Wikipedia. \u00a0That’s why they’re so link-averse (and why the page is so empty…).<\/p>\n

Are we all losers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My own opinions about fractal art would be Wikipedia-worthy if I had some fractal art qualifications; degree, office, professional designation, published in a fractal art journal. \u00a0As it is no one has anything like this –except– on the technical side, which, as I mentioned, is a completely different section of the Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

\"wpfa2\"

Fractal page from Wikipedia. Not to be confused with the “Fractal Art” page.<\/p><\/div>\n

Funny eh? \u00a0The Fractal Art page is nothing more than a few simple pictures and a couple of banal\u00a0paragraphs while the main\u00a0“Fractal” page is up in the intellectual stratosphere, too high, apparently “for most readers to understand<\/em>.” \u00a0And they’ve got real, serious external links. \u00a0There isn’t even a gigantic warning message about “{{No more links}}” on the main\u00a0Fractal page. \u00a0Of course, that’s because in the area of fractal science, there’s plenty of qualified (i.e. PhD) sources and professional materials (TV documentaries, books, professional journals). \u00a0It’s makes the Fractal Art page look like some Nobel Prize winner’s retarded brother.<\/p>\n

Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alright, what to do about this? \u00a0How do we clean up fractal art and get it into the same sort of shape as the fractal sciences?<\/p>\n

Well, I think the Wikipedia just isn’t the right venue for information on a topic like Fractal Art. \u00a0Like I said, there’s nothing official, it’s all just us amateurs and hobbyists. \u00a0The big Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Exhibits were just fractal art’s link-spamming in its highest form; it’s most muscular example of “self-promotion” as the Wikipedia often calls it. \u00a0If you though the BMFAC was going to launch your career in fractal art, I’m sorry but you never actually left the ground. \u00a0Even the judges are “non-notable” as far as the Wikipedia is concerned.<\/p>\n

Orbit Trap is the\u00a0only thing closest to being a real authority in the fractal art world:<\/p>\n

\"Yes,

The only Fractal Art link Wikipedia readers\u00a0really need<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s useless, and although there have been efforts\u00a0to build something substantial there, ultimately the page keeps reverting back to a few shallow paragraphs that fail to even offer a basic\u00a0definition. \u00a0I’ve been going there for\u00a0several years and have always wondered why it never seems to develop into anything, but now\u00a0I think I’ve figured out what … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5437,"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-5434","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\/2014\/07\/wpfa1.png?fit=378%2C255&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5485,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5485","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":0},"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":464,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=464","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":1},"title":"Understanding Fractal Art: The Guild","author":"Tim","date":"9 November, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to understand the current fractal art world you need only to learn a bit about the concept called a guild.\u00a0 I believe the majority of fractal artists are members of a rather pervasive fractal art guild.\u00a0 In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that almost\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5462,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5462","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":2},"title":"Maybe You Should Stop Calling Yourself a “Fractal Artist”","author":"cruelanimal","date":"17 August, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Oxford Tire Pile 9b by Edward Burtynsky [Click on images to see higher resolution renditions.] \u00a0 Shut up and play your guitar. --Frank Zappa Seriously. I mean it. Calling yourself a \"fractal artist\" could be damaging your fine artistic street cred. On the Wikipedia Fractal entry, as Tim revealed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/EdwardBurtynsky_OxfordTirePile9b_sm.jpg?fit=450%2C364&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2006,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2006","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":3},"title":"Are atomic explosions a type of fractal art?","author":"Tim","date":"1 December, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yep.\u00a0 They sure are! See if you can guess what fractal program made this one: Oh.\u00a0 You guessed wrong.\u00a0 But that's understandable.\u00a0 You see, the entire fractal generator that made the explosion was destroyed in the making.\u00a0 Fast rendering time!\u00a0 --but it only works once! I think they called it\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/753px-Ivy_Mike_-_mushroom_cloud.jpg?fit=753%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/753px-Ivy_Mike_-_mushroom_cloud.jpg?fit=753%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/753px-Ivy_Mike_-_mushroom_cloud.jpg?fit=753%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/753px-Ivy_Mike_-_mushroom_cloud.jpg?fit=753%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=362","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":4},"title":"Fractal Woodburning","author":"Tim","date":"28 January, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not making this up.\u00a0 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 AetherPhoto caption from Aether's\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4428,"url":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=4428","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434","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=5434"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5457,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434\/revisions\/5457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}