July 22, 2000

Fractal art is still in its beginning stages of development as a separate and accepted art form. Only since the early 1990’s have computers and fractal programs advanced enough to make fractal image exploration practical. The concepts of Chaos have been around for several decades longer, with the beginnings of that theoretical direction going back another century. Of course, the first person knowledge of chaos in the experienced world goes back to the dawn of consciousness, and exists now only a blink away.

To further define the subject I quote Kerry Mitchell, from The Fractal Art Manifesto, located at:

"Fractal Art is a subclass of two-dimensional visual art, and is in many respects similar to photography—another art form that was greeted by skepticism upon its arrival. Fractal images typically are manifested as prints, bringing Fractal Artists into the company of painters, photographers, and printmakers. Fractals exist natively as electronic images. This is a format that traditional visual artists are quickly embracing, bringing them into FA's digital realm.

Generating fractals can be an artistic endeavor, a mathematical pursuit, or just a soothing diversion. However, FA is clearly distinguished from other digital activities by what it is, and by what it is not."

Fractal art is a new way of looking at space and form. Through the medium of the computer and all of its associated peripherals a new vision of the world has opened up. It is as if a new type of camera has been invented, with computer screen selection boxes taking the place of the viewfinder. This new tool has infinite focusing abilities and multitudes of configurable variables. It is almost hard not to discover new images. As always it is not the tool which creates art, but the artists and their viewers.

The universality of the fractal image is practically self evident, with a little thought and observation. At exhibits of my images the most common experience among the audience is one of recognition. Subconsciously everyone can relate to the general effects found in fractal imagery, even though this type of image has never appeared before in all of art history. It is a more visceral experience than the psychedelic era poster art. Somehow the fractal image has a validity in human consciousness that seems to be innate.

Another common experience while viewing fractal imagery is one of contemplation. Almost everyone who has been captured for a moment by a fractal art print is instantly transported to a contemplative state. A glaze comes over their eyes, as if they are contemplating cloud patterns. Depending on the abstract qualities of the image, every viewer sees the print in their own private context. Everyone sees something different in highly abstracted fractal images. Often that personal perception of the image is so individual that it can only be resolved by the viewer, no matter how much they explain what they see and point to where they see it. This is not an effect restricted to fractal art. Inkblots do the same thing. Yet the complexity and elegance of the fractal image viewer’s subjective constructions always amaze me. This could be a window into the human unconscious that still remains unexplored.

In addition to being quite possibly the most colorful images ever produced by man, fractal images have the ability to be explored as separate visual universes. All one needs to enter the universe of a particular fractal image is the original fractal parameter file and the program that can render it. This interactivity of the fractal image is one direction that this art form will could evolve.

Above all Fractal Art is an experimental art form. The artist is never fully certain what effect variables will have on the image. This fact connects, rather than separates, the digital fractal artist with the traditional paint artists. The chaos that occurs when a painter touches the canvas with the brush can never be fully controlled. Indeed, most accepted masters of the painterly arts find methods to guide this fractal force, as a horseman can never possess the power of the horse but only direct it to some degree. When working with only a fractal program, with no other graphic manipulation used, the image dictates to the artist what direction to proceed, and not vice versa, as with traditional drawing or painting techniques. The dedicated fractal artist spends hours making small changes to various parameters, looking for just the right effect or color scheme.

The newness of this art form is evident by the works of present day fractal artists. The Internet has become the place to find and explore fractal art. The ease of discovering an original image and coloring scheme has lead many people to develop their artist skills by concentrating on this art form. This is not surprising, given the captivating nature of fractal image generation. What is missing in many of these endeavors are the elements of style.

Fractal geometry is with us to stay. The scientific advances brought on by this new way of looking at the world will only continue to pervade our technological world. You touch fractal technology right now if you own a cellular phone; The internal antenna is probably shaped in a fractal form.

Fractal Art will evolve along with these developments. The art historians of the future will look back at this period as the first struggling attempts to assimilate this powerful new vision into our human experience.