Fractals are patterns, infinitely reiterating, self-similar in shape. Benoit Mandelbrot coined the term in the 1970s, but scientists and mathematicians had been exploring the concept for centuries. Mandelbrot developed a geometry to express things found in the natural rather than the man-made world - coastlines, galaxies, anatomy, clouds, trees, snowflakes, and the like. Fractals are intrinsic to Chaos Theory - the science of surprises, of the non-linear and unpredictable. They reveal the order governing the seemingly chaotic in our world. As we learn to recognize them, we gain insight into our world, our selves, one another. Especially at this cultural moment, when the whole world has changed and we must re-imagine the ways in which we make art and the ways we educate, Fractals provides resources and approaches for collaborative art and for locating the intersection of arts and academics in ways that illuminate both.
