fractal . . .

A fractal...something considered simple and orderly that is actually composed of repeated patterns no matter how magnified. A fractal is almost infinitely complex.

Fractals are often associated with recursive operations on shapes or sets of numbers, in which the result of the operation is used as the input to the same operation, repeating the process indefinitely. The operations themselves are usually very simple, but the resulting shapes or sets are often dramatic and complex, with interesting properties. For example, a fractal set called a Cantor dust can be constructed beginning with a line segment by removing its middle third and repeating the process on the remaining line segments. If this process is repeated indefinitely, only a "dust" of points remains. This set of points has zero length, even though there is an infinite number of points in the set. The Sierpinski triangle (or Sierpinski gasket) is another example of such a recursive construction procedure involving triangles (see the illustration). Both of these sets have subparts that are exactly the same shape as the entire set, a property known as self-similarity. Under certain definitions of dimension, fractals are considered to have non-integer dimension: for example, the dimension of the Sierpinski triangle is generally taken to be around 1.585, higher than a one-dimensional line, but lower than a two-dimensional surface. Perhaps the most famous fractal is the Mandelbrot set, which is the set of complex numbers C for which a certain very simple function, Z 2 + C, iterated on its own output (starting with zero), eventually converges on one or more constant values. Fractals arise in connection with nonlinear and chaotic systems, and are widely used in computer modeling of regular and irregular patterns and structures in nature, such as the growth of plants and the statistical patterns of seasonal weather.

I have a Buckminster Fuller-sort of passion for words such as fractal. =]

Beyond that is the curiosity for how it relates to art, to all or simply to my own. Imagine a body of art that acts as a fractal. I think a successful fracal artist maintains a sort of pattern/style throughout every work. I seek to achieve just this, a distinguishable pattern that overlays the language of photography to express concepts, dreams, ideas of my own. I am not to maintain the pattern as a form of comfort but as a form of expression so that the audience gets so lost within differentiated pattern within chaos that it is intoxicating. I liken this to me walking through the Eggleston exhibit in Chicago. I stood in front of every photograph, intoxicated, yearning. While each held a new pattern of thought, concept, series, they were together connected by the style.