Fractal patterns in nature and art are aesthetically pleasing and stress-reducing

Humans are visual creatures. Objects we call “beautiful” or “aesthetic” are a crucial part of our humanity. Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles. Although aesthetics is often regarded as an ill-defined vague quality, research groups like mine are using sophisticated techniques to quantify it – and its impact on the observer.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-03-fractal-patterns-nature-art-aesthetically.html#jCp

Fractal secrets of Rorschach’s famed ink blots revealed

The simplicity of the stains’ repeating patterns is key to why we see so many images in them.

links from the article

The Fractal Geometry of Nature
http://us.macmillan.com/thefractalgeometryofnature/benoitbmandelbrot/9780716711865

Fractal Fluency: An Intimate Relationship Between the Brain and Processing of Fractal Stimuli
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4939-3995-4_30

Circle Limit Exploration
http://mathstat.slu.edu/escher/index.php/Escher’s_Circle_Limit_Exploration

The facts about Pollock’s fractals
https://blogs.uoregon.edu/richardtaylor/2017/01/04/the-facts-about-pollocks-fractals/

links cont’

Aesthetics and Rock Art
https://www.amazon.com/Aesthetics-Rock-Art-Thomas-Heyd/dp/075463924X

Richard Taylor’s Blog
https://blogs.uoregon.edu/richardtaylor/

Order in Pollock’s Chaos
https://blogs.uoregon.edu/richardtaylor/files/2015/12/PollockScientificAmerican-2ees1wh.pdf

Tau.Neutrino said:

Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles.

We don’t actually know that.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles.

We don’t actually know that.

I’d go with both, not one or the other.

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles.

We don’t actually know that.

I’d go with both, not one or the other.

I’d go with that too.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

We don’t actually know that.

I’d go with both, not one or the other.

I’d go with that too.

I’m happy with “I don’t know”.

Nice. I’ll finish this later.

perhaps our preference for the aesthetically pleasing, is a consequence of the utility of things we find aesthetically pleasing

Some fractals are irredeemably ugly.

> Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles.

mollwollfumble’s hypothesis is that the oldest known examples of rock art were graffiti. eg. The stencilled hands found in the oldest rock art are all small, of children not adults. So does graffiti serve a utilitarian, aesthetic or other role? I’d say “other”, a way of saying “I was here” without giving away who “I” is, in order to avoid prosecution.

mollwollfumble said:

Some fractals are irredeemably ugly.

> Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles.

mollwollfumble’s hypothesis is that the oldest known examples of rock art were graffiti. eg. The stencilled hands found in the oldest rock art are all small, of children not adults. So does graffiti serve a utilitarian, aesthetic or other role? I’d say “other”, a way of saying “I was here” without giving away who “I” is, in order to avoid prosecution.

Well, they didn’t know who Kilroy was back then.