*Stewie voice*
What the deuce?

--
'You want to know how the universe began? That question makes no sense and has no point! The brain knows so much, there will always be an unsolvable mystery, and to that forms the basis of religion.'

Cool! Here's hoping for some Apo images this year.

--
Nan-Snacks: A Bitta Love in Every Pack™

Some of us in the fractal community have reservations about the manner in which both the Fractal Universe Calendar and the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest are run. While blogging at Orbit Trap, we have written extensively to detail why the protocols of both competitions should be carefully examined in regard to professionalism, favoritism, ethical breaches, and conflicts of interest.

I understand this is a controversial topic in some quarters -- but it is one that profoundly affects all of us as artists and the genre of fractal art as a whole. As such, the manner in which these competitions are managed should be carefully scrutinized and openly discussed.

We have a right to speak out -- even if what we say upsets some of you and challenges the status quo. We did not come here to argue. We came here only to share information.

Please visit our blog, consider our arguments, and draw your own conclusions. Thank you.

Terry Wright
Tim Hodkinson

~/~

Orbit Trap:
[link]

--On the Fractal Universe Calendar:

Facelift:
[link]

The Price of Professionalism:
[link]

The Fractal Universe Alternate Calendar 2008:
[link]

There are many more posts about both competitions in the Orbit Trap archives.

I'm so confused by your reservations regarding the Fractal Universe Calendar. As I understand it, the company that publishes the calendar has targeted a very specific audience, one that is more than likely unfamiliar with the creation of fractals. They are a for-profit company who sets their own requirements, and takes on an editor to select images from which to produce this calendar....much like a book editor will pre-screen submissions for publication. The fact that this editor will have an image published as part of the payment for services rendered does not seem to me to be in conflict. I have yet to see an image published in the calendar that did not conform Avalanche's standards.

I'd love to know how you can possibly imagine that this one little calendar can, in your words, "profoundly affect all of us as artists and the genre of fractal art as a whole."

As you invite people to visit your blog, I'd like to suggest they also visit the post by Ken Childress who responded to your arguments about the Calendar and also the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest. It can be found here.. [link] Then go here, [link] and read through to where the editor herself has responded to your arguments. Then let the public decide, and put it all to rest.

Have a good weekend

--
Masquerading as a responsible adult

Apparently I posted the links incorrectly. Here they are.
[link]

[link]

--
Masquerading as a responsible adult

beebee127,

I'd argue the calendar does have a profound effect on how people see our genre. For many people outside our community, the only contact they have with fractal art comes from buying the Fractal Universe Calendar. As such, it embodies how fractal art is represented in the public mind. Are you happy with the scope and breadth of that representation? Or do you worry that the calendar presents a limited style and a confined aesthetics?

I am sorry you are confused about our reservations about the fairness and professionalism of the two major fractal competitions. We tried to explain ourselves using details and examples, and I believe we even touched upon the observations you make in your first paragraph.

Since you were apparently not confused by what Childress said in his blog, I assume you mentioned it because you agree with his point of view.

And that's fine. Still, I do hope forum members here take a challenge to visit both blogs. I think looking closely at tone is a must, as well as keeping a running tally of the number of insults, distortions, and ad hominem attacks one finds. Members should also carefully compare which blog presents empirical evidence and which relies on emotional venting. Ask plenty of questions, too -- like which blog has a sense of humor? What longstanding ties do the individual bloggers have to various people managing or judging the competitions? Which blog plays a whistleblower role by presenting controversial, even unpopular issues relevant to fractal art and artists -- and which one merely responds negatively to the issues raised by the other in order to keep the status quo safe and its established power structure intact?

Happy Saturday.

I have to take issue with your concerns about how the general population perceives fractal art. Frankly, I doubt many outside the community really care. What attracts those who purchase the calendar are the pretty spirals and bright colors, and I'm sure you'd agree with that. I think they're a glorious way to introduce fractals to the masses. But I doubt most of those viewers will ever be interested in learning more. Those, like me, who are fascinated and want to know more will certainly find a way to learn more of the possibilities. There is certainly enough information available to those who care to find it.

As far as fairness in the image selection for the calendar, I'd say that since it is a private enterprise, and the editor has accepted payment of a guaranteed image, the balance actually becomes unfair. Compensation for months of work is nothing more than any of the others receive for only submitting. That's not fair, but that's really not our business, is it?

Have a good weekend, and a cheery Easter.

--
Masquerading as a responsible adult

beebee127,

So your answer to my question about whether you are worried about the limited styles and confined aesthetics presented as representational by the FU Calendar is no? I respectfully disagree this product is "a glorious way" to present our art form to the masses. I feel it widely reinforces stereotypes of what fractal art is and can be.

I also assume you are sympathetic to Childress' positions -- and that is why you mentioned his blog. Am I right? Or are you taking issue with him as well?

If the Fractal Art Calendar was a true publishing venture, it would be run like one. The publishers would hire an editor and pay her or him (with a check) for services rendered. Those services would entail directly soliciting artists to contribute original work to the calendar.

But that is not what happens. Instead, the entire venture is couched in a competitive scenario. The editor is actually a screener who pares down the many entries to a more manageable number. The misnamed editors turn these finalists over to a "publishing team" who function as judges and select winning submissions for inclusion.

Editors surely deserve payment, but a compensation that includes the editor's work in the publication -- especially when the selection process is competitive rather than solicited -- is widely regarded as an unprofessional practice that runs an increased risk of invalidating competitions on the grounds of promoting favoritism and increasing the risk of conflicts of interest. The FU Calendar process further allows editors to submit their own work into the final pool of artists selected to be sent to the publishers. As a result of these unusual protocols, just over 40% of the images that appeared in the Fractal Universe Calendar from 2004-2004 was the work of just four former or current editors.

If the calendar was run as a conventional publishing enterprise, whether private or public, I'd have no problem with it. But since it has become one of only two major art competitions for our field, I'd say it is very much the business of all of us to insist that our competitions be run with the highest professionalism. If you and others are indifferent to having strict, commonplace standards, then I fear fractal artists will always be seen as amateurs and hobbyists, at best -- and hacks, at worst -- by the larger art community.

im sorry beebee but i have to agree with cruelanimal here, limiting the calendar to just spirals with shiney dots around them is not portraying what our art is all about. They should include fractal art that is diverse. Actually they shouldnt even only include fractal art because thats to restricted, they should include any art.. and photos! and also the calendar should be printed in braille so the blind can read it... and it must be printed in every language, even made up ones. and each page should be an lcd screen so you can load your own images onto it. also it should be made of hemp paper so at the end of the year i can roll it up and smoke it.

just my opinion.

--
hello there

Hello again. Hope you're having a great day.

Whether or not I agree with you, Ken Childress, or anyone else hardly matters. On a regular day I am just a hack, on a good day I'm an amateur and hobbyist. I am incapable of producing an image that would be accepted for the calendar, but its hardly important. I don't know too many people outside the fractal community itself who really worry about all this, and I am hardly qualified to debate with you, particularly on a weekend.

All I can suggest to you is that you contact Avalanche and apply for the position of "screener" next year. You might want to reject the offer of a guaranteed image, and of course you'd not get the $200, but you might bring more integrity and diversity to the calendar.
Excuse me while I remove my tongue from my cheek...just a brief lapse into childishness.

Another option would be to open your own competition with your own rules..
Sorry, but I'm the wrong person to be debating this with. Frankly,there are too many more important issues in these sad and scary times for me to worry about a calendar.
Hope one day this is all resolved to your satisfaction.

--
Masquerading as a responsible adult