BEing the Change

Damian over at be the change – tread the path has put up a new article of mine as a guest post. You will definitely want to check it out, and stick around on his site a while if you haven’t already done so.

Drawing the lines – a creative act of self-expression

Also, let me share one of my older pieces I call white sheep. It matches the theme of BEing the change well, since it was the first fractal I ever did on a non-black background. That one step openend me up to really start playing with the whole spectrum of colors available – my art was never the same again.

Experimenting

Sometimes, it’s important to drop all expectations and go at your task from a completely different angle. Life is about movement and change, so there’s no point in trying to stick to the same things forever. I have blocked my own creativity countless times by this, dismissing something before even knowing it.

When I first started building this piece, I found it rather strange. I’d been experimenting with some new techniques I learned in a tutorial I came across (one of the few that’s actually comprehensive, going beyond the program and right into the underlying principles), and the results were a bit bizarre. Anyway, rather than censor myself I’ll just put it up here, as I will continue to explore this style and see where it leads me. The sketchy feel has actually started to grow on me after a while, it’s a nice break from my usual methods.

So, what do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Connecting to Myself

I have hardly taken any time to think about the implications of this blog. When I was first exposed to some of Slade’s ideas, I got a tingling sensation that this medium was somehow for me. I didn’t know what my content was going to be, or what I was supposed to be standing for, but I just had to do it.

And now here I am, and I have finally found the reason. My two passions – fire and water – are beginning to combine, creating the unique alchemical mix I call my art

Fire – seeing the structure of reality through abstract, conceptual ideas. Matter that can be transformed through perception.

Water – feeling the softer elements of human existence. Flowing energy leading to connection and life. Inspiration, creativity, imagination.

All of this is possible thanks to the individuals who created and contributed to the open source program Apophysis, in which I create the fractal flames you can find around these pages.

Recent history has brought incredible technological advancements to us. The efforts of many, faceless and meaningless when each on his own, are merging to create something vital – Access. The connection to everything has never been easier, more direct. Our old, clunky social structures are quickly fading away, being replaced by a medium that is much faster for thoughts to travel, for bringing people together – not locally, but universally.

I don’t know if the people that created this new art form share my motivations, if they see the grand nature of their task, but thanks to access (that magical word again), it doesn’t matter. The idea spread anyway, reaching me just at the right moment, giving a part of my soul that had been hiding deep inside a way to express itself, to send its tiny sparks into the world.

And for that, I am grateful.

This post is being submitted to Nneka’s season of gratitude. I’m not from the US but I did like the meme, so I am joining in anyway.

What do Androids Dream of?

Electric Sheep.org has the answer for you.

Why settle at just having your computer sitting idly on your desk, letting its CPU cycles waste away, when you can turn it into an outlet for collaborative, evolutionary art?

I believe the free flow of code is an increasingly important social and artistic force. The proliferation of powerful computers with high-bandwidth network connections forms the substrate of an expanding universe. The electric sheep and we their shepherds are colonizing this new frontier.

Not much to add to that… just that it curiously reminds me of a certain blog post.

Empty Shell

What is left behind when the essence leaves?

I always think I know so much, but when I start looking – really looking – I can only see the smoke in my eyes.

Have I ever really known?

Negative Space

The blackness calls to me, urging my fingers to draw the outline of its definition. A shape – one I didn’t know existed a few moments ago – is now pulsing before me, extending itself into the infinite within tiny confines, mutating as my will dictates its structure. A single click is echoed endlessly, allowing my computer to divert itself with the chaos game as long as it pleases.

But this time, the motif is not the mysterious flame but the blackness itself, rising into the sky like an ancient tree struck by lightning.