Fun From Fractals

In Pollock’s era it was assumed that events, like weather, that occurred as a result of nature, were random in nature. However, in the 1960-70s it was discovered that these events were not random, but in fact ordered in a very subtle way. This “chaos,” as it was described at the time, eventually gave way to an entire new field of mathematics called fractals, a form of geometry that consists of infinitely complex patterns that repeatedly break into increasingly fine magnifications. In order to identify a fractal, one must be able to identify the fractal dimension, which is denoted D. This value quantifies the scaling regulation among the patterns observed at different magnifications, which essentially means it says how dense the pattern is. Scientists have not only been able to find the D values for many of Pollock’s paintings, but they have also done research into what images and D values people find most attractive to look at. Many of Pollock’s early works have low D values, meaning that the density of his “drips” was fairly spread out, but as he progressed further into his career, the D values of his paintings increased. Psychological studies have shown that humans prefer a D value of 1.3-1.5, and analysis of Pollock’s paintings show that they have D values ranging between 1.12 and 1.7. Pollock also created a painting that registered a D value of 1.9 (for reference, the scale of D values ranges between 1 and 2), however he later destroyed it, possibly because he was unhappy with how dense the pattern was.