Here I am playing some more with varying the amount of confetti mixing across the image. The function that controls the mixing has become more complex.
A few days ago I
called this abstract art
and algorithmic art,
and implied that it is not fractal
art. What is the difference? Why do we need definitions? It is what it is.
Feel free to appreciate it (or despise it) without defining it. Classifying it
does not change it. Still, classification is an interesting exercise, so let’s
go there, gently, with that understanding that it does not actually matter.
Fractal art is
algorithmic art since it is generated by an algorithm. Fractal art however is
limited to a very specific algorithm. For many fractal artists, that algorithm
is written by someone else. Even though I write the program(s) for my fractal
art, I follow a recipe that is shared by thousands of fellow fractal artists.
Algorithmic art puts
no restrictions on the algorithm. Everything is fair game. And generally every
image is generated by a different algorithm. The algorithm itself sits on equal
footing with all the other artistic stuff. So I like to reserve algorithmic art for
the cases where creating the algorithm itself is a key part process.
I am paranoid that
someone will vehemently disagree, and that paranoia drives me to deal with the
minutia. First, I in no way intend to diminish the work of fractal artists that
use someone else’s program. Discovery and selection an interesting fractal region,
then framing it and coloring it is the artistic input. That takes a lot of
skill and practice and creativity.
I should say
something similar for using a computer rather than a brush and acrylics. Maybe
I will save that for another day.
Second, there are no
clear boundaries. Many fractal artists soon get bored with z^2+c and start
experimenting with other, and increasing exotic, formulas. Most fractal
software allow users to write formulas, so there is no limit, it crosses over
into general algorithmic art.
Some may consider
this image a fractal. I don’t but someone else might. Fractals are sometimes
defined as having fractional dimension. I doubt that anyone could compute a Hausdorff dimension
for today’s image from the underlying formula/algorithm. But by appearance, it
certainly seems to fit the definition. Also the process of repeatedly chopping
and shuffling pixels seems fractal in nature.