Wolfgang Beyer

Wolfgang Beyer is a German physicist with a doctorate in natural sciences who worked in laser medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Klinikum in Munich. At the university’s Laser Research Laboratory he contributed to studies on photodynamic therapy and optical diagnostics, publishing research in journals including Lasers in Surgery and Medicine and Applied Optics. His scientific work applied principles of physics to medical imaging and surgical treatment.

In parallel, Beyer pursued an artistic practice that spanned handmade objects, time-based experiments, and computer-generated works. In the 1970s he produced a series titled Lichtpendel, photographs made by suspending a camera above a light source and capturing the motion of colored slides in long exposure, transforming simple setups into dynamic images of light and movement. He later created Wolkenzeitrafferfilme, films that compressed hours of cloud formations into shifting patterns, and Schrittmotormusik, compositions built from the programmed rhythms of stepper motors. Further projectsincluding terabyte.fall and experiments with satellite reflections extended his interest in the ways technical processes could be made perceptible through art. In the early 2000s, using the fractal software Ultra Fractal 3, he generated high-resolution renderings and animations of the Mandelbrot set, constructing deep zoom sequences that reveal its self-similar structures in vivid color. Released under a Creative Commons license, these images are widely reproduced on Wikipedia and in educational contexts. Twelve were selected for the PBS NOVA documentary Hunting the Hidden Dimension, where they were used to illustrate fractal geometry.