Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communications Arising
  • Published:

Fractal Analysis

Revisiting Pollock's drip paintings (Reply)

Abstract

Replying to: K. Jones-Smith & H. Mathur reply

Our use1 of the term 'fractal'2 is consistent with that by the research community. In dismissing Pollock's fractals1,3 because of their limited magnification range, Jones-Smith and Mathur4 would also dismiss half the published investigations of physical fractals5. On the basis of previous debates on limited-range fractals5,6, a fractal description is particularly appropriate for Pollock's patterns because it is physically reasonable and because it is useful for condensing the description of a complex geometry, as we now describe.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Analysis of freehand, gaussian and Cantor dust patterns.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Taylor, R. P., Micolich, A. P. & Jonas, D. Nature 399, 422 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mandelbrot, B. B. The Fractal Geometry of Nature (Freeman, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mureika, J. R., Dyer, C. C. & Cupchik, G. C. Phys. Rev. E 72, 046101-1-15 (2005).

  4. Jones-Smith, K. & Mathur, H. Nature doi:10.1038/nature05398 (2006).

  5. Avnir, D., Biham, O., Lidar, D. & Malcai, O. Science 279, 39–40 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mandelbrot, B. B. Science 279, 783 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bassingthwaighte, J. B., Liebovitch, L. S. & West, B. J. Fractal Physiology (Oxford Univ. Press, 1994).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Haussdorff, J. M. et al. J. Appl. Physiol. 80, 1448–1457 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Doyle, T. et al. Int. J. Med. Sci. 1, 11–20 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Shi, X. D. et al. Science 265, 219–222 (1994).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Aks, D. & Sprott, J. C. Empir. Stud. Arts 14, 1–16 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Taylor, R. P. et al. Patt. Recog. Lett. (in the press).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. P. Taylor.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Taylor, R., Micolich, A. & Jonas, D. Revisiting Pollock's drip paintings (Reply). Nature 444, E10–E11 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05399

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05399

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing