Even though I hate math… I love what can be created using geometric patterns. While there seems to be many different styles of art that fit under the umbrella name of a Fractal, what I found when I went looking for more information about them was a treasure trove of amazing art. Make sure to click the images below to see the entire fractals in all their wonder. Thanks to manekineko for starting the conversation in the forum that inspired this post.
A fractal is generally “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,”[1] a property called self-similarity. The term was coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975 and was derived from the Latin fractus meaning “broken” or “fractured.”
-Wikipedia
20 Beautiful Fractal Artworks
Fractal by Lynn (Gracie’s mom)
Fractal by Lynn (Gracie’s mom)
Fractals in Nature
Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, snow flakes, crystals, mountain ranges, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.
-Wikipedia
Fractal by Today is a good day
Fractal by Today is a good day
Fractal by Today is a good day
Make Your Own Fractals
Feeling inspired? Ready to try making some fractals yourself? Here is a program to try out and some resources to help you make your own mathmaticaly awesome art.
Apophysis – Freeware Fractal Flame Editor for Windows
Apophysis is a freeware Windows program for designing and rendering fractal flames. It was created by Mark Townsend and has since been improved and updated by Peter Sdobnov, Piotr Borys and Ronald Hordijk.
Apophysis Flame Pack 3 by ~saisao
Photoshop Tutorial: Free Transform Fractals
Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest 2007
The Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest is continuing efforts to promote fractal and algorithmic art, they organized a new exhibition to coincide with the Year of Mathematics and Science. The contest is to select some of the artwork to be used in the exhibition.
What distinguishes fractal geometry within mathematics is an exceptional and uncanny characteristic. Its first steps are not tedious, hard, and unrewarding, but playful and extraordinarily easy, and provide rich reward in terms of stunning graphics. To the mathematician, they bring a bounty of very difficult conjectures that no one can solve. To the artist, they provide backbones around which imagination can play at will. To everyone, a few steps in about any direction bring extraordinary pleasure. Nothing is more serious than play. Let’s all play.
—Benoit Mandelbrot
Fractal Animations
Chaoscapes from Rocco Helmchen on Vimeo.
