Simplicity

Categories Fractal art
Simplicity

To generate a fractal image is to put a face on complexity. Those richly-detailed pictures of swirling spirals or intricate patterns that go ad infinitum –the themes dominating most fractal renderings– always thrill both creators and onlookers. Whether they think of themselves as artists or not, fractal drafts(wo)men –almost– always go for the thrill and the complex. Simplicity is most likely discarded because its statement is usually not so pompous or eerie, but calm and serene, sometimes even emptying. Plus it’s hard to figure a…Continue Reading “Simplicity” →

Artist… fractal artist

Categories Fractal art, Tiera-Zon
Artist… fractal artist

In the 21st century, in the age of self-publishing and the immediacy of information spread, being an artist is –or so it seems to me– more a matter of attitude, self-esteem and passion for public projection or self-promotion (or should I say personal marketing?), rather than a natural or trained disposition to excel in producing artifacts that may be regarded as appealing to both maker and public (in that order). It also seems to be a distinction, for the most part, bestowed upon oneself, rather…Continue Reading “Artist… fractal artist” →

Defining fractal art: A “history” (kind of)

Categories Reading
Defining fractal art: A “history” (kind of)

  One of human hobbies is to classify everything by giving it names. Nothing can exist without at least a common designation. And so it happens that at some point, probably in the late 1970s, it became necessary to distinguish a novel type of computer-generated images from the sample pages in the catalog of visual things. By then some people had already realized the potential appeal of this kind of pictures, so intriguing and so different than anything that preceded this style, that it was worth coining a unique label for it….Continue Reading “Defining fractal art: A “history” (kind of)” →

Beneath the pixelation

Categories JWildfire
Beneath the pixelation

Not long ago I read Tim Hodkinson referred to fractals as a medium in one of his Orbit Trap posts. Initially I thought I’d had to disagree with that notion based on the now classic analogy of fractal art and photography: if that were true, people must be the medium of portraiture –wouldn’t they?– and I’ve never heard photographers or painters refer to their clients or models as their medium (maybe out of respect because now I think they are, but keep reading). So in that sense,…Continue Reading “Beneath the pixelation” →