Have you ever seen a pendulum swinging over a pit of sand, tracing patterns as it moves? The results can be simple or complex, depending on the forces generating the motion. In a truly chaotic system, a strange attractor represents this final state, and can be visualized using surprisingly simple mathematical equations. Initially inspired by Clifford Pickover’s Chaos in Wonderland, I have been experimenting with chaotic attractors since 2001. I call this series Aesthetic Explorations of Attractor Space. For more technical and mathematical information, view the Tech Notes.
Update: the survey is done and one of my good friends from college, Stacy E Maikkula, has won the random drawing for a print of Helios! Congratulations to her, and thanks to all of you who answered my survey (55 responses!). Your input is very helpful and encouraging.
A dance of a billion particles—abstract forms of bright rusty orange swirl over a cyan background, perhaps mimicking smoke, liquid in suspension, or sheer fabric. One of the strongest images from my BFA exhibition’s 4×4 grid of strange attractors, Dance has become one of my favorite artworks, and usually hangs in our living room. In 2008 it won second place at Palm Beach State College’s Photography & Digital Imagery Exhibition, and indirectly led to my first solo exhibition at that [Read More...]
Part of what inspires me about this form is its resemblance to aerial photographs of river deltas and other geological phenomena. Perhaps it is a minimalistic interpretation of what an alluvial fan looks like from above.
I found these intriguing lightning creatures hidden in the infinite possibilities of strange attractor space. It turns out there is an electrical phenomenon that happens high above thunderclouds, called a sprite.
I started this in 2008 and hope to get back to it soon. Basically, I have computed a voxel approximation of a three dimensional chaotic dynamical system, and adapted a ray marching Renderman cloud shader used in the movie Contact to visualize the attractor via 3Delight. This is just work in progress, an attempt to capture the true volumetric, delicate and fascinating form of these generative artifacts.
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© 2012 Nathan Selikoff. All Rights Reserved.
The Art of Nathan Selikoff is produced by DAS and Creative Outsiders.