While it seems I’ve been waiting ages to put a cover of my book up on the header and make this post, it’s been only two months since Stacy Reed agreed to let me use one of her fractal images. This cover isn’t the real deal — I recently had to make up a mock cover for a flyer, so this is just a sample of what it might look like…but I’ve kind of fallen in love with this image, so I couldn’t resist.
The source piece is “Erecting the New Zion,” and I think the mood and the mechanization fit the book so perfectly. There are even large prints available, and I’m totally going to buy one and hang it over my desk to remind me where I’ve been. I like the idea of each book being a point of departure for the next. Hopefully it will work.
There are so many amazing possibilities, though, and for what little say I have I’m last in line, so I’m trying not to get my heart set on this one. Check out her whole website, where she also keeps an ever-interesting blog.
I’ve had American Fractal as a title for two years, and in that time, I’ve scoured the internet for fractal imagery–the concept is so central to the structure of the book, that I really wanted to find something I could use. While I find all fractal images beautiful, most fractal art strikes me as too clean, almost sterile. These vibrant colors that flow almost randomly, but usually too smoothly to evoke any feeling. I don’t know if that makes any sense, but it’s like looking at a rainbow instead of a diamond.
Or here’s a better analogy: If fractal artists are Pixar, most of them are making Toy Story. No depth of field, no dirt. Stacy Reed is WALL-E. The worlds she creates are real, tactile, textual–there’s grit on the gears and blur in the background. Even the less layered fractiles and flames feel tangible, and so invite you to enter their fuzzy logic. Does that make sense? I’m no art critic, but I just love her work.
“Erecting the New Zion” is some beautiful artwork – very lucky you!