4 November/December 2011 Published by the IEEE Computer Society 0272-1716/11/$26.00 © 2011 IEEE

About the Cover

Her Own Virtual Gallery of ArtGary Singh

Debi Peralta’s art appears in several online milieus, including Bluecanvas.com, Red-Bubble.com, and the Museum of Com-

puter Art (http://moca.virtual.museum)—all of which, in my opinion, are beginning to circum-vent the traditional analog art gallery experience. Through these portals, artists critique each other’s work, trade programming tips, and swap creative advice. They participate in juried competitions and peer-reviewed exhibitions.

Peralta originally studied anthropology at the University of Utah in the years leading up to the emergence of the Web. She also delved into fi ne art, working with clay until clay dust allergies forced her to abandon that medium. As the Web’s popularity increased, Peralta gradually acclimated herself to Microsoft Paint, along with other digital tools, before fi nally diving head-fi rst into Apophysis, a Windows application for creating, editing, and rendering fractal fl ames.

“Digital tools allow me to create almost as quickly as I think,” she says. “I fi nd with the frac-

tal graphics generator I use there is no end to what can be created. I’m just beginning to scratch the surface right now, really.”

Open to InterpretationLike all of Peralta’s fractal work, the cover image, Event Schematic, came to being in Apophysis. She began with a tutorial by fellow artist Max Wedding, one of the many inhabitants of deviantART (www.deviantart.com), a popular Web-based community of artists.

“This particular tutorial uses the rectangle and curl settings in very small fractions to create a very dramatic effect,” Peralta explains.”I added a Julia setting to create a starburst. The colors I chose are inspired by the dramatic events that occur in the cosmos such as stellar births and deaths.”

After she completed the image, the lines in the work conjured up images of cosmic blueprints. It resembled a collective psyche at work, plotting out the unfolding of the universe.

“The lines put me in mind of a schematic or blueprint, as though it was a plan in the cosmic imagination before it was put into motion,” she says. “Therefore the name of the work.”

With Arising Harmonic (see Figure 1), Peralta aimed to create a vision of energy and peace. It be-gan with a good night’s sleep, cool weather, and a good cup of coffee.

“Some of my best work is created fi rst thing in the morning after waking from a dream state,” Peralta explains. “I woke that morning to perfect quiet in the house. The weather was cooling beau-tifully at night, so I wasn’t running the air con-ditioner. I had a very deep sleep that night and woke with a clear mind. It was a positively glorious feeling in the morning. My hot coffee contrasted beautifully with the cool air, so I spent a little time on my veranda with my coffee before I sat down at my computer. Naturally, it came out in my work.”

Peralta used the water element of Arising Har-monic to evoke feelings of buoyancy and peace. The symmetry is also there for a specifi c reason.

Figure 1. In Arising Harmonic, Debi Peralta aimed to create a vision of energy and peace.

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Peralta says she intended to invite viewers into the work and, introspectively, into themselves.

“When I want to convey an internal state to my audience, I will often use a dihedral format,” she explains. “I believe that human beings relate well to dihedral symmetry because they are symmetrical beings—that is, DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man.”

As a result, everyone’s interpretation will be dif-ferent. Some might see lungs and a rib cage, whereas others perceive a Lovecraftian liquid alien regener-ating itself while surfacing from a green absinthe hallucination.

Another example, Dark Orchids (see Figure 2), presents a wealth of interpretations. Organic-looking but almost metallic in texture, the imag-ery could resemble something natural or human-made. Peralta says she typically captures more organic-looking forms in her work, a by-product of fractals in general.

“One of the things I love about fractal art, and Apophysis specifically, is that visual elements that are very organic arise in the creative process,” Per-alta says. “There are fractal forms all over in na-ture. Some viewers will see things from the natural world, while others will see tangible, experiential forms. ... I find that men and woman—not exclu-sively, but most of the time—tend to relate to my work in different ways. Men see spaceships or me-tallic forms. Women tend to see manifestations of spiritual thought or organic forms from nature.”

Prior to Oblivion (see Figure 3) seems more mini-malistic. Depending on your interpretation, it could evoke the inward radial pressure of three arm-like clamps as they bore down into a funnel of reac-tive molten liquid. Or it could be a flower, opening and representing the unfolding of the soul. Prior recently won honorable mention at the Museum of Computer Art’s Second Anniversary Exhibit and was chosen for the cover of that exhibit’s catalog.

The Next-Generation GalleryPeralta has a CafePress page (www.cafepress.com/expressionsoffreedom) where she adapts her im-ages to tote bags, coffee mugs, and more. But as with many digital artists, she has found the analog art gallery scene to be elusive. Galleries, who need to stay in business, are forever trapped in the con-cept of originals and limited editions, so they of-ten consider a digital print the same as a reproduc-tion. Even if the digital artist insists on providing a certificate assuring that a print is a one-of-a-kind original, galleries usually just aren’t ready to make that step. It will simply take more time.

What’s an Apophysis junkie to do? Peralta says she’s enamored with the Museum of Computer

Art, which she sees as an example of where all this is going.

“They have launched what I see as the next-generation venue for digital artists,” Peralta ex-plains. “An online, virtual gallery. They often host exhibitions where digital artists can submit their work. They print their work for a nominal cost for their physical gallery and host the event there in addition to displaying the entries and honorees in their virtual gallery online.”

Gary Singh lives and writes in San Jose, California. Con-tact him at gsingh@avantguild.com.

Figure 2. Dark Orchids presents

several interpretations, natural or human-made.

Figure 3. Prior to Oblivion recently won honorable mention at the Museum of Computer Art’s Second Anniversary Exhibit.

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