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Sunday -- 12:40:38 (EST) -- March 02, 1997
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From: Jim Muth
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Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 12:40:38 -0500 (EST)
Subject: A brief introduction
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Hi everyone:
I'm Jim. I'll introduce myself by telling a bit of my background.
I am a writer, graphic designer and armchair philosopher, living in
a large east coast city in the U.S.A. I became interested in fractals
early in the 1980's, when the first article on the Mandelbrot set
appeared in the Scientific American magazine.
I have always had a desire to explore unknown regions, but found
myself frustrated because the unknown parts of this world have already
been explored and the vast unknown places of other worlds are yet to
be reached. The world of fractals fulfilled that desire.
To me, fractals are mystical things, objects of a world neither real
nor unreal. I am fascinated by them, by the tremendous enigma of
their existence, by the way they go on and on forever -- infinity
reduced to the size of a computer screen. I am fascinated by the
simplicity of the mathematics behind them, as well as by the
incredible pictures they make. But I am fascinated most of all by
their philosophical aspect. As I work with them, I constantly wonder
what they are, and what do their beautiful patterns mean.
What is a fractal? The question is simple; the simple answer is, "the
mapping of a recursive function to the screen". But stop a moment to
consider the Mandelbrot set, one of the simplest fractals. How many
Mandelbrot sets exist, one or many? If the Mandelbrot set is merely
the image that appears on a computer screen when the formula Z^2+C is
reiterated, then thousands of identical Mandelbrot sets are constantly
coming into existence and vanishing as thousands of computers are
switched on and off worldwide. If these images are separate entities,
then why are they identical? Apparently, a unity lies behind the
separate images.
But if the Mandelbrot set is a single object that has an existence
beyond the ephemeral images that flicker on the world's computer
screens, then the question arises, "what type of existence does this
archetypal Mandelbrot set possess?" The question sounds almost
comical until one thinks about it. One might also ask, "did the
Mandelbrot set exist before computers were invented?"
Questions such as these are not so easily answered. In some ways the
Mandelbrot set is no more than an idea, a potentiality like sub-atomic
particles, which according to certain interpretations of quantum
theory, don't come into existence until they are actually observed.
Are fractals art? This is a question with as many answers as there
are people who answer it, for art exists in the mind of the beholder.
If a person glances at a fractal image and passes on without knowing
or caring, then to that person fractals are not art. But if a person
sees beauty in a fractal image, if that image fills the person with
a sense of awe and wonder, then fractals are indeed art.
To me, fractals are art of the highest order. I have created many
thousands of them over the past ten years, most of which have long
since been discarded. But those discarded images still exist
somewhere out there, like ghosts lost in the ether, waiting for the
time when some unknown enthusiast enters the same magic formula into
a computer, and once again brings them to life.
I'll have more to say, not quite so philosophical, in future
postings.
Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com
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