In Pursuit of Elegance

Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing

Matthew E. May
Figure 1
 Figure 2

Richard Taylor pictured with the wind-driven pendulum on the Yorkshire moors.
Photograph courtesy of Richard P. Taylor.
 Figure 3

FRACTALS
Fractals are a special type of symmetry: repetitive patterns nested within each other that remain
the same at differing scales of magnification, so that the overall structure is similar to a single smaller
structure. Fractals occur naturally (not as precisely as in this diagram), and arise out of very simple rules
that when fed back on each other create beautifully organized and highly complex designs.

Figure 4

HOW TO CREATE A KOCH SNOWFLAKE

In 1904 Helge von Koch developed a fractal curve starting with a line and replacing the middle
third with a triangle. This simple algorithm, the Koch curve, is repeated endlessly. To create the Koch
snowflake three Koch curves are combined.
 Figure 5

. . . OF FRACTALS

REAL TREE ARTIFICIAL TREE

Branch patterns are statistically self- Branch patterns are exactly self-
similar at different magnifications. similar—identical—at different
magnifications.

Images courtesy of Richard P. Taylor.

 Figure 6

Fractal dimension Fractal dimension Fractal dimension

of 1.1 of 1.7 of 1.9

Images courtesy of Richard P. Taylor.

 Figure 7
MORE TO A DRIP THAN MEETS THE EYE

Pollock’s Number 32, 1950: fractals Non-Pollock drip painting: no fractals

When a pattern is fractal, the statistical qualities repeat at finer and finer magnifications. In
the painting on the right, the structure becomes diluted, loses its complexity, and the pattern
looks very different at high magnification from that at low magnification. In contrast, a Pollock
painting like the one on the left displays closely similar qualities at different magnifications,
irrespective of size or location of the sectors chosen. In other words, the Pollock drips are fractal,
while the non-Pollock drips, because they vary with pattern size, are not.
Images and analysis courtesy of Richard P. Taylor.
 Figure 8

THE POLLOCKIZER
Harnessing nature to capture the beautiful and complex
symmetries of the seemingly haphazard but elegantly controlled
methods of Jackson Pollock. Photograph courtesy of Richard P. Taylor.
 Figure 9

Note that in reality, there is no circle, square, or triangle.

Ths cn b hrd fr ppl to cmprhnd; howvr, mst ppl cn ndrstntd ths sntnc wth lttl prblm.
Our brains do a lot of filling in for us.

Figure 10

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XI + I = X

Figure 15

MATT’S ALPHA RELATED TO ERRORS

DURING PERFORMANCE GAME
Figure 16