This model was created by stacking the frames of an animation into a 3D set of voxels. The animation was created by Andrew Glassner. See the 323 project for more details. The animation that created this model is here.
This model was definitely inspired by Dave Whyte's animation. I made my own version and tried some different transforms. It's not a super-great 3D model, but it is cool in that it doesn't need a base, as all the fibers are attached together as a whole.