Choose Your Own Adventure

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books? I loved those books. I remember going to the library as a kid and checking out every one I could get my hands on. I never really thought about how bizarre some of the covers (and story lines in general) were. Something Awful apparently did though. In "Choose Your Own Adventure Books That Never Quite Made It", they take it upon themselves to photoshop in more appropriate titles for some of the crazier cover art.



Don't let anybody tell you that you can't still enjoy CYOA's just because you're an "adult". Wired magazine says there's complex science there and stuff! Quantum physics, bitches! "Between the lines of each Choose adventure lies some complex science." (Told you) "The choice-and-effect format reflects the treelike structure used in game theory to chart possible outcomes based on initial circumstances..."

Much like what is demonstrated by this "Choose Your Own Adventure Book as Directed Graph" by Sean Michael Ragan.


"... Every book contains different but simultaneous outcomes – something that quantum physics posits is the case in the real world, too. Chaos theory, string theory" – they all have something to do with what's being done in CYOA stories.

Here are a few CYOA's for grown folks to check out online:

CYOA (on Drugs) over at Cracked.

A Triangle Morning: Games: Which Way Adventure is a sweet little bizarre Flash take on CYOA.

There are lots of stories over at the Choose Your Own Misadventure Wiki, created by Discordians to "tell the Greatest Story Ever Told".

If you're interested in more options, see Edit This Info's CYOA wiki. It has the added bonus of letting you actually conbtribute your own content: "If you don't see an option that you would like to pursue, click the edit tab on the top of the page and add a new path to the page. Then you get to write in your own adventure for the hero. "

You can even take The Google Adventure where you start a low-level job at Google and navigate your way through to a " high-paying, fulfilling, challenging and creative" career at the Google. I heard a rumor that if you do so successfully, you'll actually get a job at Google. No, not really. I just made that up.

If you want to put as little effort as possible in your adventure, check out the The Best Examples of Choose Your Own Adventure Interactive Video over at We Are Organized Chaos.


Finally, a little more on game theory, really just because I want to tell you why you should link here.

Open Art

Pop over to Artists Wanted to help them answer the question: "What shapes our world more, art or design?" You'll be presented with a series images, the work of an artist on the left, and that of a designer on the right, and asked to select the one you find more moving.

The real goal of the competition, and Artist Wanted at large, is to to make the process of breaking in to the professional art world "more welcoming, dynamic and open-ended" by helping to build "new lasting opportunities for emerging talent".

Here are some of the artists and designers I had the fortune of coming across thanks to the project:

1. Melissa Furness
"Throughout my life I have been very aware of myself in relation to environment ... how the places where I have resided have formed my identity, and how human presence forms a place as well. There is an internal sense of feeling either connected or disconnected to the places in which we reside that effects all of our interactions ... The concept of a hybrid reality can be seen throughout my work in painting through a complex layering of space."

Pre-figured
2006
24in x 24in



Outlying Positions
2006
24in x 24in



For more of Melissa's work, visit: http://www.melissafurness.com/


2. Olga Nazarkina
"I searched the way to express the feeling of the infinite space being limited by the size of canvas" and to "create a sense of the abstract concept of endlessness."

The Tree of Wisdom
2007, Color Paper
2X8"
"This is the first art piece in my series of applique' works in colored paper. The thin branches are interlaced with one another, resembling A neuron pattern in the brain. Being dark and light they are life stories that comprise the tree of wisdom."



"Storm"
Sangina/ Paper, 2006
30X40"



"Dandelions"
Oil/Canvas, 2006
30X40"



Rain

Color Paper, 2007
11X8"

"The composition is created from thin strokes of colored paper. 3D quality helps to establish the mood of a poignant rain."



See more of Olga's work at: http://www.painting-olga.com


3. Mays Mayhew
"In recent work, I am exploring two concepts; one the concept of memory and two the concept of love. Memory intrigues me because it is intangible and fleeting. Existentially recalling a memory is interesting because the more one actively concentrates on a past event, the more that is uncovered. In the brain, the memories look like tiny dendrites."

No Umbrella 1
Oil/Wax Gems/Nylon Thread, (2007)
14 x 11 x 1 in.



Free Fall 2
Oil, cheesecloth, (2009)
50 x 20 x 1.5 in.



SoulMate
Oil, gems, glitter, (2009)
18 x 28 x 3 in.




For more of Mayhew's work, visit: http://www.maysmayhew.com


4. Graham Slick
"I take pleasure in the physical process of image making, be it the discovery of a more precise way to apply wiggle eyes or a new way to drip ink. No matter how complex the construction of my images, my goal is to maintain a spirit of playfulness in my work that resonates with the viewer. "

"A new idea must not be judged by its immediate results." - Nikola Tesla
2009, mixed media on wood
12 x 12 inches


The Lonely Sasquatch
2008, mixed media on found book
12 x 8 inches


See more of Graham's work at: http://www.grahamslick.com



5. Ania Baran
Young, polish, new to photography

Theatre of Dreams
Nikon D40
2009



Cracow
Nikon D40
2009



The Morfeusz gifts
Nikon D40



For more of Ania's work, visit: http://www.usefilm.com/photographer.asp?ID=375473

Maps

What is this?
Some sort of rare fossil formed in glass or crystal? Seaweed or ferns imprinted into ice? No, this is something you could make. It is a natural fractal pattern formed by air displacing a vacuum that resulted from pulling two glue-covered acrylic sheets apart.

And you thought that any sort of (productive) play with glue ended after Kindergarten ...

Welcome to this blog.
The header of this page includes images representing different types of maps - some of which are fractals and some that are not.

If you're curious, these images are:

Top Row (from left to right):
Snow on top of cracking masonry (first), the structural formula of dopamine (below masonry), a power grid, a cast of the human lungs and circulatory system, lightning, a hand (palm), the universe, a family tree




Bottom Row (from left to right):
DNA, neural networks, a mindmap, a tree with bare branches, Seoul's subway system, a mountain range

Want to make your own fractals, sans paste?

• Make fractal cookies with the help of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
• Be inspired to make your own 3D Fiction
• Or make music with fractals at Fractal Vibes or Music in the Numbers

Have any other online examples or tools to share for making fractals? Please share them!