The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot

The Bard Graduate Center recently closed a show entitled "The Islands ofBenoît Mandelbrot:Fractals, Chaos, and theMateriality of Thinking". Interesting, for a computer scientist to have a show in what has historically been an institution dedicated to showcasing the arts.

Benoit Mandelbrot is perhaps most famous for his work involving fractals (including helping to generate the mountains in Star Trek II). Fractals are shapes that exhibit the interesting property of having self-similarity. This fractal was named after Mandelbrot:

People call it the "Mandelbrot Set". It's a "set" because this shape is actually a visual map to a collection of special Julia Set fractals.

This "art" show at the Bard Graduate Center focused on the visual record of the mathematical discovery of the mysterious properties of these shapes:

It's hard to find visual artifacts to document the lifespan of a mathematical discovery. Several pieces in the show are obviously sketches of ideas that have yet to come to full fruition.

• New York Times coverage of the Islands of Benoit Mandelbrot
• Exhibition Catalog- The Islands of Benoit Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking
• The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation 
• Making the Genesis Effect in Star Trek II