mountmous,

I’m afraid the actions of the editor and publishers do not match their words.  The Fractal Universe Calendar is indeed run using a competition framework.  The editor is actually a screener who prunes the initial submissions down to a more manageable number.  Images sent by the screener are then selected by “the publishing team” who act exactly like judges; they choose the “winners” who will appear in that year’s calendar.  Editors are paid with the standard stipend ($200 for an image or $400 for a cover) and one of their own images is also included in the calendar.  However, editors also have the option of including more of their own art (how much, we’ve asked without receiving an answer) into the whittled down samples that are sent on to the publishers.  Because of this arrangement, editors appear to enjoy insider privileges.  Just over 40% of the art in the Fractal Universe Calendar from 2004-2008 was the work of just four people: three former and one current editor.  Last year, one of the editors had two images included in the calendar -- including the cover.  He also collected $600 -- the largest payment made to any artist that year.  These facts raise questions of propriety tied directly to the manner is which the competition is managed.

If this operation were a professionally-run publishing venture, it would behave like one.  The editor would perform an editor’s duties and only contact artists individually to submit to the calendar.  The editor would then turn the solicited images directly over to the publisher.  The editor would be compensated (as in paid), but under no circumstances would the editor's work be included in the final product (or, in the case of the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest, would judges' work turn up in the exhibition).

We’ve made these points numerous times on our blog.

~/~

Stephanie,

You’re welcome.

But, as much as OT might like to take the credit, I don’t really think you can place your submission and inclusion in last year’s calendar at our feet.  After all, you were the one who made the decision to make fractal art that strictly adheres to the Avalanche Publishing aesthetic.  And do you always make artistic choices out of a need to spite people who are critical of some aspect of the fractal community?  I guess I believe that making art is more of a self-expression -- something that comes from within and reveals an artist’s feelings or thoughts or vision.  You seem to see creation as a vindictive, get-even response to ideas you dislike.

You also seem to imply that we desire the death of the calendar when in fact what we want is its rejuvenation.  We’d like to see the Fractal Universe Calendar run according to competition conventions commonly used in the broader art community.   We’d also like to see the FUC focus back on what it has always indirectly claimed to be: the best of the genre.  Nothing will change, though, as long as the editor(s) continue to subvert the whole process by using it for self-promotion, and the publishing company goes on making a profit through its public promotion of clichéd styles and imagery.

~/~

Beebee127,

Sometimes, it is difficult to discern a person’s gender on the Internet.  However, I have no record of ever receiving a personal email from you.  After reading your message here, I have corrected the mistake in the Orbit Trap post you reference.  I apologize for the error and for any discomfort you may have felt because of it.

The conversation you mention was at deviantArt and can be read here.  Fractal forum readers can visit and judge for themselves if I behaved rudely to you -- or, at any rate, was as discourteous as you are to me in this thread.

And now you say we will ban you before you’ve even left a comment.  I urge you (or anyone here) to comment on Orbit Trap and test whether that assertion is true.  Or perhaps such a claim is just an excuse for you and others not wanting to confront us and risk a rebuttal in our house rather than in this relatively safe forum where you believe your friends have your back.  It’s true we have banned several people -- but only after giving them plenty of time and numerous opportunities to engage in discourse.  I have also been banned from Keith’s MacKay’s blog and forum -- and after just one post.  I'm not upset about it; unfortunately, these things sometimes happen.  I bet some of the mods here at Renderosity have been known to occasionally ban members from time to time.  But if you believe we have a blanket policy of not allowing critical comments, you can disprove that theory quickly by stopping by and sharing your thoughts.  Assuming your remarks adhere to our comments policy, and you aren’t one of the chosen few who had their chance and blew it, you’ll see what you said.  But be aware that we are a private publishing enterprise and not a forum.  Moreover, we reserve the right to challenge what appears on our blog.

I’m sorry you find our pursuit of these “ridiculous” issues “tedious,” just as Stephanie worries that the topic will “reiterate into infinity.”  The editor and organizers have said nothing about our questions and have done nothing to correct any of our concerns.  So, I'll guess we'll keep on pointing out what seems obvious to us.  In the meantime, here’s a task that might help relieve some of the tedium.  Use your time constructively to present a rational, detailed explanation as to why so many people in the fractal art community insist that our art competitions are somehow exempt from using widely accepted practices (like not allowing the work of editors and judges to appear in competitions) -- practices that help insure fairness and professionalism.  I would really like to examine such an argument.

~/~

Please don’t get me wrong.  I am content to read and reflect on the thoughts of any Fractal Forum member.  Still, I’d like to point out that my post was really addressed to the Fractal Universe Calendar editor and/or publishers.  I would like to hear them comment on  the questions we’ve raised -- or understand why they refuse to speak to our inquiries.     

The bloggers at Orbit Trap have repeatedly asked many specific questions seeking clarifications about how the Fractal Universe Calendar competition is run.

Our questions were not covered in the Fractal Universe Calendar's current web site's FAQ pages, which clearly state that "if you have any questions or queries regarding the process which have not been answered in the FAQs please contact Panny via the enquiry form."

We posted the questions on our blog. I also wrote the editor personally through the "enquiry form" -- as specified on the web site. Eventually, I wrote a letter and sent an email to Avalanche Publishing, the company that produces the calendar, and posed questions to them.

To date, we have had no reply at all from either the editor or the publisher.

Since the editor is posting a reminder about the calendar competition deadline here, I will use this opportunity to also remind her that our questions about the Fractal Universe Calendar remain unanswered and will use this opportunity to ask again: Will either the editor or the publisher please address the questions we have raised? If so, when? If not, why not?

Thank you.

Fractal Forum readers can view questions and trace the history of events pertaining to this year's Fractal Universe Calendar competition in these Orbit Trap posts:

Facelift

Incoming

An Open Letter to Avalanche Publishing

Never a Discouraging Word

and here are a few earlier posts touching on the Fractal Universe Calendar:

The Price of Professionalism

The Fractal Alternate Universe Calendar 2008

Childress is misinformed. Tim and I do not want to eliminate either the Fractal Universe Calendar or the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest.  But we do believe neither competition is currently being run fairly or with a high degree of professionalism.  We show evidence on Orbit Trap to support such claims and go on to analyze who benefits from keeping these entities as they are.  We urge fixing both competitions to bring them in line with the rest of the professional art world.  That’s a more accurate summary of our position.

We are not censoring anyone at Orbit Trap.  We have, though, barred several trolls from posting there.  These people have shown they are not critics.  They are hecklers who we published until it became clear they had no interest in discourse.  See this post for a full explanation.  There are only two hecklers for whom we had to call security (three if one also counts Childress), and they have hardly had their free speech abridged by us.  After all, each one's voice is heard loudly and regularly in the comments section of Childress' blog.

We have and will continue to publish comments on Orbit Trap -- including views that disagree with ours -- but only when submitted remarks adhere to our comments policy and come from people who engage in discussion rather than heckling.

I do hope forum members here take a challenge to visit both blogs.  I agree that looking closely at tone is a must, as well as keeping a running tally of the number of insults, distortions, and ad hominem attacks one finds.  Members should also carefully compare which blog presents empirical evidence and which relies on emotional venting.  Ask plenty of questions, too -- like which blog has a sense of humor?  What longstanding ties do the individual bloggers have to various people managing or judging the two competitions?    Which blog plays a whistleblower role by presenting controversial, even unpopular issues relevant to fractal art and artists -- and which one merely responds negatively to the issues raised by the other in order to keep the status quo safe and its established power structure intact?

Some of us in the fractal community have reservations about the manner in which both the Fractal Universe Calendar and the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest are run. While blogging at Orbit Trap, we have written extensively to detail why the protocols of both competitions should be carefully examined in regard to professionalism, favoritism, ethical breaches, and conflicts of interest.

I understand this is a controversial topic in some quarters -- but it is one that profoundly affects all of us as artists and the genre of fractal art as a whole. As such, the manner in which these competitions are managed should be carefully scrutinized and openly discussed.

We have a right to speak out -- even if what we say upsets some of you and challenges the status quo. We did not come here to argue. We came here only to share information.

Please visit our blog, consider our arguments, and draw your own conclusions. Thank you.

Terry Wright
Tim Hodkinson

~/~

Orbit Trap

--A few posts on the Fractal Universe Calendar:

Facelift

The Price of Professionalism

The Fractal Alternate Universe Calendar 2008

There are many more posts about both competitions in the Orbit Trap archives.

Rick,

The geeks who built my machine said a super high end vid card wouldn't make any difference for 2D imagery.  Video work and gaming, however, would be another story.  For post-processing static images, the geeks stressed dual core, as much RAM as possible (4 gigs), and (as Damien noted earlier above) a very fast disk.

Terry

Hi Mindy,

As someone who frequently does heavy post-processing in graphics programs, I share your pain.  So I gave up cursing and ulcers and started from scratch.  I custom built a machine -- dual Pentium, 4 gigs of RAM, super quiet casing, and so on.  Now, when I work, it's a calm, almost Zen experience.

PS filters like BuzzPro and Power Retouche that once crashed my machine now zip to completion in about 15 seconds.

Although I haven't tried working at 8000x8000 as Damien noted, I have worked without trouble at 4500x6000.  And, consequently, I"ve started making some poster-sized Giclee prints.

It's not HAL -- but at least I'm no longer hearing: I'm sorry, Dave.  I'm afraid I can't do that.

Terry