Shrapnel

This weeks wallpaper is entitled Shrapnel. Enjoy!

Hello Again!

The shelves are dusted, the windows have been cracked, and our doors are again open.

Please pay no mind to the occasional cobweb, as we get this space up and running again.




I am going to just dive right in today, and release this weeks wallpaper, "Briar". Keep an eye on this space for more in the near future.

Until next time,
Chris

Why fractals?

I was first introduced to fractals in a general sense, in the form of microcosmic and macrocosmic thinking. I was fascinated. The idea that miniature creatures explored my body the same way I did my own evironment was deliciously interesting.

Groups of them, like the people buzzing about me, diligently fulfilling the variables that govern their existence.

It wasn't until a few years later that I encountered my first julia set. It was hanging in one of those, out of the box, science stores you often find at the mall, and looked very much like the image below.



The collections of toys, geodes and plasma balls could not sway my gaze. It took a few moments, but I realized it was a visual guide of sorts, to one of my greatest fascinations. Shapes, made up of like shapes, made up of like shapes, each with their own slight variation, wandering off to find infinity.

It wasn't until much later that I encountered fractal art. While I find fractals intrinsically beautiful, the concept of making them more so, was still unknown to me.

As our knowledge of fractal mathematics, and the software to manipulate it evolves, the ability to beautify them does as well.

Where once we were limited to a single layer, or single formula, we are no longer. Combining fractals and other elements in accordance to one's vision is not the arduous task it once was. It is now possible to add borders, accents, texture, lighting and other elements.

The possibilities are quite exciting...

..and in a universe literally steeped in recursion, who am I to deny possibility?

-Chris

The Beginning of Some New Iterations

Fractal art. You like to look at it, perhaps you like to make it, but do you like talking about it?

With fractal art growing in popularity, the community surrounding it seems to be as chaotic as the images themselves. Individuals are making fantastic and innovative fractals, but art is about more than just great visuals.

Like anything in it's infancy, it is hard to surmise where fractal art will go and what it will become. The challenge we face, truly, is exploring and growing along with it, and perhaps posing the questions that are hard to ask.

What makes an artist great? What is metaphor? How does mathematical imagery tie into a traditional artistic aesthetic? Are there artistic movements within fractal art as in traditional art? The list is as infinite as fractals themselves.

While we may not have all the answers, we do have perspective. Four unique outlooks into a world as strange and beautiful as any other you could imagine.

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Hello all. My name is Chris Oldfield. I am perhaps better known in the fractal art community by the handle, milleniumsentry. I live a short drive from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and I have been tinkering with mathematical imagery for approximately four years. I enjoy many programs, but my forte lies in Ultra Fractal. I am an incredibly curious being, and most of my time is spent satiating said impulse. Thankfully, fractals are just infinite enough to keep me occupied. When it's time to give my retina a rest, I enjoy studying physics and astronomy, computer programming, logic structures and artificial intelligence.

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Merhaba! Esin, here. Also known as banana-tree by some. I like bananas. I like music. I like neurons. I like spirals. I like the random. I like the mysterious. I like people. I like exceptions. I like underdogs. I like the random. I like contradicting you. I like contradicting myself right thereafter. I like being confused. I like epiphanies that follow. My brain would like to have your brain’s babies.

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About Far: I think the desert is beautiful, but the ocean is overrated. On any given day, you might find me listening to Alice Cooper, then Stravinsky, then 3OH!3. Salty flavors appeal to me more than sweet ones and I am unabashedly enamored of my own handwriting. In addition to my fractal activities, I follow about fifteen webcomics and a blog or three. From this, you can probably infer that I'm one of those people who spend way too time online—but I've also seen bald eagles and a grizzly bear in the wild, so I like to think those things balance each other out. Last but not least, if you think any of Shakespeare's plays are better than King Lear, then don't say so where I can hear. Especially Hamlet. Hamlet can suck it.

A more conventional about me: I'm a twenty-year-old female English major from Montana who's been fractalling for five years. My real name is Jess.

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My name is Travis. 300 years ago, I arose from seafoam. I'm currently on loan from the Louvre. I'm the leader of a ragtag team of war heroes who have become soldiers for hire, working as good-guy vigilantes around the US or the world. My lineage consists of a bottle of Jack and a broken rubber. I love going off the deep end. I swim in the kiddy pool. I'm crudely refined. I'm an acquired taste, at least to those who have had tongue transplants. I paint the thin line between genius and insanity. I drive on a parkway and park where ever the hell I want.

Well, ok, maybe some things aren't true. My name is Travis though. I'm 22 and I like alot of things. My specialty is using Apophysis, though, I've been told I'm getting good at Ultra Fractal too. Folks round these here parts call me the Platypus. It's all good, baby. It's all good.

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And that's the New Iterations team!