One important thing to remember is that visualization needs not be constrained to the screen but can be a site specific or physical manifestation of something otherwise invisible. One perfect example with which I am sure everyone is familiar with from school is to visualize magnetic fields by placing a magnet under a piece of paper or cardboard covered with iron fillings. But in how many other ways can you extend that concept to show it in different dimensions?
One way is to use ferrofluids which are suspensions of fine iron particles like magnetite or hematite in some carrier liquid medium. Playing with ferrofluids and some powerful magnets can keep you mesmerized for hours. The resultant forms are not only beautiful to watch but they visually depict the magnetic fields in all their glory!
Syntboutique, Installation, Singapore 2008
Another example is a site specific installations or objects like the ones depicted in syntfarm . I see how the Syntboutique installation for example could trigger ideas for the food or smell related projects that we have been talking about in class.
2 comments:
Wow! I really like the magnetic image using ferrofluids. Such a cool concept to think about.
Was that image taken by a camera? Or was it made digitally?
I have never heard of ferrofluids before. I would be interested to see exactly how they're made and what other purposes they serve.
Definitely NOT digital! Ferrofluids are quite extraordinary. BTW you can buy a bottle in Amazon and other places (shop around for price) They are used in science projects as well. I am sure you can find some here at the University, perhaps in Chemistry or Materials Engineering. Search ferrofluid on the UF website.YOu might fins someone working with it.
They are made by mixing extremely fine iron (or other type of ferromagnetic materials, like hematite)particles with a colloidal solution and also a surfactant (like soap) to break the surface tension so the particles don't accumulate in clumps.
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