Created on 25th October 2006

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Blossfeldt Fractals is a dynamic composition of plant forms, based on photographs by Karl Blossfeldt, generated through algorithms similar to Lindenmayer System.

Photographs by Karl Blossfeldt are both resource and inspiration in my project. I first scanned the photos and then manually edit and dissect the different plant elements.

Then I create a custom software to import these images and tag the points of interest in them. I mark points where stems or leaves or flowers may grow, specify the magnitude and direction of each point, and classify each image by its shape and texture.

This “visual” coding is analogous to L-System’s grammatical rules, which can be integrated into recursive algorithms. The data is saved as an xml file.

I created another custom software that reads the xml data, performs affine transformation and image processing functions, and generates a dynamic composition of plant form. Plants of different species, shapes, and textures attune to each other, and come together as a unified composition.

This project uses Java and Processing

Had Nature shadowed there, by putting forth,
‘Mid circumstances awful and sublime,
That mutual domination which she loves
To exert upon the face of outward things,
So moulded, joined, abstracted, so endowed
With interchangeable supremacy…

– William Wordsworth, The Prelude

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