![]() This fluency puts us in a comfort zone and so we enjoy looking at fractals. We found that this adaptation occurs at many stages of the visual system, from the way our eyes move to which regions of the brain get activated. Through exposure to nature’s fractal scenery, people’s visual systems have adapted to efficiently process fractals with ease. Other studies since then have demonstrated that just looking at pictures of natural scenes can change the way a person’s autonomic nervous system responds to stress.Īre fractals the secret to some soothing natural scenes?įor me, this raises the same question I’d asked of Pollock: Are fractals responsible? Collaborating with psychologists and neuroscientists, we measured people’s responses to fractals found in nature (using photos of natural scenes), art (Pollock’s paintings) and mathematics (computer generated images) and discovered a universal effect we labeled “ fractal fluency.” In the 1980s, architects found that patients recovered more quickly from surgery when given hospital rooms with windows looking out on nature. The impact of nature’s aesthetics is surprisingly powerful. Pollock’s ability to express nature’s fractal aesthetics helps explain the enduring popularity of his work. Since then, more than 10 different groups have performed various forms of fractal analysis on his paintings. ![]() In 1999, my group used computer pattern analysis techniques to show that Pollock’s paintings are as fractal as patterns found in natural scenery. Other examples of nature’s fractals include clouds, rivers, coastlines and mountains. As you keep zooming in, finer and finer branches appear, all the way down to the smallest twigs. Then you see smaller versions growing out of each big branch. First you see the big branches growing out of the trunk. My scientific curiosity was stirred when I learned that many of nature’s objects are fractal, featuring patterns that repeat at increasingly fine magnifications. Although battles raged among Pollock scholars regarding the meaning of his splattered patterns, many agreed they had an organic, natural feel to them. My research group took this approach with Jackson Pollock, who rose to the peak of modern art in the late 1940s by pouring paint directly from a can onto horizontal canvases laid across his studio floor. When it comes to aesthetics, who better to study than famous artists? They are, after all, the visual experts. Researchers are untangling just what makes particular works of art or natural scenes visually appealing and stress-relieving – and one crucial factor is the presence of the repetitive patterns called fractals.Īre fractals the key to why Pollock’s work captivates?ĪP Photo/LM Otero Pleasing patterns, in art and in nature Job stress alone is estimated to cost American businesses many billions of dollars annually, so studying aesthetics holds a huge potential benefit to society. ![]() We’re finding that aesthetic images can induce staggering changes to the body, including radical reductions in the observer’s stress levels. 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. Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles. Objects we call “beautiful” or “aesthetic” are a crucial part of our humanity.
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