Archive for Art

Something Different In The City Different

by John Weckerle

Once in a while life provides an extraordinarily pleasant surprise, and we had such an experience last Friday while visiting friends in Santa Fe. Our friends had heard of an art exhibition called Meow Wolf, and we all decided to pay it a visit.

Meow Wolf is less an art exhibition than an immersive art environment. It is difficult to explain or describe. The experience is called the House of Eternal Return, and it consists of numerous environments (“rooms”) created by artists.  There are places to walk, crawl, climb, sit and observe, lie down and contemplate, and throughout there seems little or no prohibition against touching and otherwise experiencing the art.  The experience is surreal, exhilarating, relaxing, and stimulating all at once.

Unfortunately, we found ourselves caught without a camera because art exhibitions rarely allow photography, and the Meow Wolf website doesn’t come close to capturing the experience (in its defense, we’re not sure it would be possible to do so). As it turns out, this is not the case at Meow Wolf. Those wishing a sneak peak might consider taking a look at the photos on the Wikipedia page, but even these don’t truly communicate the experience.  This is an awe-inspiring, wonderfully immersive art experience, and we see it as perhaps one of the best things to do in Santa Fe and a reason in and of itself to visit the City Different.  Meow Wolf is closing from January 17 to February 2 for upgrades and “refreshing,” and we suspect we’ll be visiting soon after to immerse ourselves once again. We strongly recommend that our readers pay a visit, and make sure to give themselves at least a couple of hours to enjoy all that Meow Wolf has to offer.

Albuquerque: Fractal Capital Of The World

Fractal Art: Positronica 1

“Positronica 1,” created with Mandelbulb 3D – available for free via the Fractal Forums website.

By John Weckerle

Today, we take a short break from our usual fare to give a “shout out” to Albuquerque, Fractal Capital of the World. The Duke City is home to the Fractal Foundation, an organization dedicated to spreading the word about fractals and their value in the areas of science, math and art. The Fractal Foundation presents two fractal-based planetarium shows at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science – First Friday Fractals and Fractals Rock – on the first Friday of each month. We’ve seen both shows, and in our opinion they are worth far more than the price of admission. Fantastic Fractals can be seen in the planetarium at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Fractal Foundation conducts a variety of education and outreach activities, and the website contains a number of interesting fractal videos.

Readers interested in fractals should also take a look at the Fractal Forums website, which provides a great deal of information on fractals, fractal art galleries, and the free Mandelbulb 3D software.

Where Art And Math Collide…

by John Weckerle

Some time back we asked what our readers would like to see more of.  We were a little surprised that the responses pretty much ran the gamut of what we were already offering, which felt good but didn’t really help with any decision-making (except, in the end, not to make any new decisions).  Today we turn our attention to the responses that expressed enthusiasm for seeing a little digital art.

Last December your editor created and/or resurrected a series of fractal images in part to create some Christmas gifts.  These were uploaded to Unclejohnsplace.com, your editor’s site for selling items bearing his art and photography. Presented here are images designed for placement on Kindle sleeves, one of which your editor grabbed for himself.  More behind the cut!

»» Where Art And Math Collide…