Multi-disciplinary research Part 1, CHAOS THEORY
AIP1 Session 5, Part 1/3
This multi-disciplinary research is a means to make sense and support the creative process of Session 1-4, which includes, among others, drip painting, action painting, motoric drawing, and ink exploration.
CHAOS: the inherent unpredictability in the behaviour of a complex natural system.
When trying to describe abstraction, chaotic is usually the first word that comes to mind. Most liken chaos to randomness. But according to the Chaos Theory, there are systems in chaos that display the determined inner workings behind chaotic results.
The chaos theory was proposed by Edward Lorenz, when he accidentally discovered it in 1961. He had created a weather predicting mathematical model that predicts weather according to current statistics. However, upon two experiments using similar statistics, he found that the results varied greatly. It turns out during the first run he had entered the statistics rounded up to 6 decimal places, whereas in the second run the computer had rounded it up to only 3 decimal places. Thus the chaos theory was born:
The smallest of differences are producing large effects.
This is also known as the Butterfly Effect, a metaphorical situation that states that the flaps of a butterfly's wings may influence a hurricane hundreds of miles away.
This is NOT to say that the butterfly causes the tornado itself, but it is one of the many factors that bumps up the possibility of the hurricane and builds up the movement of the winds.
In relation to art and my first four sessions, the Chaos Theory claims that every single line, every single movement, pauses, breath, etc. is the result of a chain reaction of many, many different factors, such as:
- handedness (left or right, especially in Session 4)
- condition of body and mind
- direction of wind (painting outdoors, air conditioning)
- slant of paintbrush/applicator
- quality of material
- stiffness/relaxedness of muscle
- surface texture
- force/energy
- contour/slight bumps on surface
- angles and degrees
For example, in relation to art and drip painting, some have claimed that Jackson Pollock's works contain mathematical fractals, which increases in complexity as he delves deeper into the discipline. Some have used this to seperate Pollock's original works from imitations, such as in 2000 when physicist Richard Taylor was asked by a Texan art collector to analyse a painting supposedly done by Pollock. However, he found that it had no fractal dimensions, and thus must be forged.
Pollock's earlier works has fractals that correspond closely to those found in nature, ex: Number 14 has a fractal dimension of 1.45, similar to many coastlines.
Some have theorised that Pollock's works are appealing because they dis[;au the rawest form of evolution and nature, in the form of fractals. There is a theory that claims that fractals was used as means of survival in ancient times. Ancient human beings were naturally more sensitive to fractals in nature, such as the angle of a blade of grass that may determine if a lion was there just a few hours ago.
Pollock's fractals, obtained from discovermagazine.com
The key to unlocking the hidden structure of a chaotic system is in determining its preferred set of behaviours, using an attractor. For example, a ping pong ball is taken to the middle of the ocean and dropped from a certain height. The height from which the ball is dropped is called the starting configuration. The path it takes between the drop and the ocean surface is the fractal, and the ocean surface is the attractor. It doesn't matter if the ball is released under the water surface, it will still float up to, or approach its attractor according to the law of physics.
The Chaos Theory has shown that nature is far more complex and surprising than we had ever imagined. But here's a question---how abstract is abstraction, then, if it can be explained or predicted using logical means?