Stress-relieving paintings: fractals in art

Richard Taylor of the University of Oregon focused on studying of fractal structures in general and since 1999 specifically in art. In particular, in the case of the paintings of his compatriot Jackson Pollock. With the help of the computer analysis of the color schemes and trajectories he indicated that Pollock’s patterns can be described as fractal (like some fractal elements in nature, such as coastlines, for example). The researcher attributes the success of the popularity of American abstractionist’s artworks that is incomprehensible to many people, exactly to this factor.

To study the influence of fractal art on human more accurately, Taylor used the method of electroencephalography (EEG) to record the brain’s electrical activity. The preliminary results showed that mid-range fractals activate cerebral cortex and some other brain regions. The contemplation of fractal patterns is accompanied by a significant stress reduction and even accelerates post-surgical recovery rates.

It’s therefore not surprising to learn that, as visual experts, artists have been embedding fractal patterns in their works through the centuries and across many cultures. Fractals can be found, for example, in Roman, Egyptian, Aztec, Incan and Mayan works. Firstly, it is rather difficult to avoid them in the depiction of wildlife, where fractal-shaped forms are found all the time.

In the 20th century, fractal structures were most widely used in the Op-Art (optical art) movement and Impossible Art. First one grew out of Abstractionism in the 1950s, more precisely, separated from geometric abstraction. One of the pioneers of Op-Art was Victor Vasarely, a Hungarian-French artist.

So, viewing of fractals leaves a distinctive mark in the brain activity of human, which even special equipment fixes. But there is also an inverse relationship: psychological and mental health of the artist can affect the quantity and quality of fractal compositions in his/her Louis
One of the vivid examples is the biography of the Englishman Louis Wain, who, after the death of his wife from cancer only three years after their wedding, was carried away by drawing anthropomorphic cats, and made a good career on this. He continued to depict felines, even when he got a psychiatric hospital with progressive schizophrenia.

As for the diseases leading to extinction of the cognitive functions and dementia, there is an inverse relationship. This was the case with Willem de Kooning, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1982. As Richard Taylor mentioned in his scientific publication, the fractal complexity of Kooning’s abstract paintings rapidly decreased in proportion to how the dementia of the artist progressed. The analysis of the work of seven artists with various neurological problems showed the potential of researching art objects as a new instrument for studying such diseases.

The creation of fractal patterns is not difficult today. There are many computer programs that allow to synthesize them in a myriad of quantities with the appropriate artistic value. But there are still artist, doing old school in this field, using not digital, but quite tangible tools. One of the noteworthy is Dr. Greg Dunn, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

If you can not order one of the works of an American neuroscientist to have an anti-stress picture, just bookmark this article and return to it whenever the level of cortisol ("stress hormone") in the blood begins to go off scale causing discomfort.

Title illustration: Katsushika Hokusai. The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Based on article "Fractal patterns in nature and art are aesthetically pleasing and stress-reducing" on The Conversation.com
Author: Natalia Azarenko