A TECHNIQUE designed to detect art forgeries using the maths of fractals may also help pinpoint why we instinctively like some abstract paintings more than others – even if we can’t put our finger on ...

Humans are visual creatures. Objects we call “beautiful” or “aesthetic” are a crucial part of our humanity. Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian ...

Jackson Pollock couldn’t possibly have been thinking of fractals when he started flinging and dripping paint from a stick onto canvas. After all, mathematicians didn’t develop the idea of a fractal ...