200 Weeks of the Fractal Window Weekly at Renderosity

Scratch by Simon Kane (SimonKane)

I've moaned plenty in the past about the fractal art areas of virtual art communities like Renderosity and deviantART. Sometimes, in such places, observing and discussing art becomes tangled with mutual admiration and friend-gathering. That's why OT has christened such online haunts as Fractalbook.

But when these communities make efforts that live up to their mission, such actions should be noted, just as the creative efforts of individual artists and editors should be commended.

Recently, the Fractal Forum at Renderosity put together a retrospective of 200 Weeks of the Fractal Window Weekly. Whatever your fractal art tastes, I urge you drop by (or register to do so since some links in Renderosity open only for users who are registered as members). It's always insightful to get an overview of work that's been shown at an established "gallery" over a period of years. Personally, I enjoy examining pieces of widely differing élan, so I figured why not post a few that I especially enjoyed. I agree with Tim who said in a recent post that "fractal art is evolving into a number of unrelated styles." Such forking of the paths can sometimes be seen in this collection.

Before beginning, though, I see that the FWW editors, Barbara Din (DreamWarrior) and Vivian Wood (Tresamie), took some thread flak for their choices. I hope they won't take the criticism too much to heart. The act of presenting such a retrospective should probably provoke some worthwhile public discussions. But I'm glad the editors took the risk and made the effort. I notice some evolving styles on display but find no prevailing bias.

The image above by Simon Kane may be my favorite of the collection. Line, form, and motion collide here with a force that startles and causes the viewer to second guess depth perception.

Once Upon a Time by Elizabeth Mansco (mansco)

Elizabeth Mansco has a painter's sensibilities and is sometimes drawn to narrative suggestion -- traits, not surprisingly, I find attractive. The fluid forms, waves of light, and washes of colors are very sensual here. And the embedded texture of shadowy Sierpenski triangles is striking.

Poissons by Paul DeCelle (PaulDeCelle)

I enjoyed these UF takes on the work of Lars-Gunnar Nordström by Paul DeCelle so much that I've written previously about them -- twice. They were, arguably, the most interesting fractal art series I saw last year.

The first three images I've selected were made using Ultra Fractal. Contrary to rumor, I don't detest the program. But its best practitioners do reveal a certain refined UF style and one much different from the more conventional aesthetics of the Fractal Universe Calendar.

Reaching Out by Aad Kleingeld (kleinhoon)

Whoa. It's Tetsuo -- The Radiator Hose. You don't need those leftover 3-D glasses from watching Coraline to feel the disjunction and perceptual pull from Aad Kleingeld's gnarly XenoDream creation.

Find Them in Hidden Places by jennyfnf

The careful construction of this processed Fractal Explorer image by jennyfnf caught my attention. Harsher geometric forms brush against bursts of line light and play off mysterious smoke forms and cascading, patterned edifices. The overall effect is strangely dreamy.

There's much more to see and explore while poking around in this retrospective. If the less socially stunted or more outright paranoid among you choose to scroll down to brave the comments, well, just remember what I said earlier about not taking whatever gets said to heart.

Tags: fractal, fractals, fractal art, fractal blog, fractalbook, fractalbook gets down, fractal window weekly, 200 weeks of the fractal window weekly, simon kane, elizabeth mansco, paul decelle, aad kleingeld, jennyfnf, renderosity, cruelanimal, orbit trap