Respite

Full moon today. Not something you get to see everyday, eh?

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Right now, I can imagine most of us FNBE students would be stressed out from the avalanche of assignments, especially the CCM meeting coming up this Wednesday (40% ler...), and a lot more. While these assignments would be crucial for our final marks, and understandably most of us would want to do our best, try not to stress yourselves too much okay? After all its college, we're supposed to have fun =)

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And before I forget, Happy Chap Goh Meh. Enjoy it while it lasts. x)

Imagination has no limits-Part 2

A little update on the Morpho Towers. To those of you who want to make your own ferrofluid to play around with, here's a little guide.

Firstly, you'll need these:

1. Laser jet toner
2. Rare earth magnet (can be bought from any hardware store)
3. Some vegetable oil
   
   

Ok, when you have those, follow these steps:

1. Pour roughly 50ml of toner into a cup

2. Put 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into the toner. You may need to add slightly more, depending on how much toner you use

3. Stir the mixture until it achieves a nice, thin consistency (not too thick)

4. Transfer the mixture into a smaller jar, so that it is easier to handle the mixture

5. Place the magnet underneath the jar-you'll see the same spiky effect as in the video! (If this doesn't work, you will need a stronger magnet)

Hope that helps =)

Imagination has no limits

After looking at the Morpho Towers video, most of us would be thinking: "No way that could be real..must be some kind of 3D animation or special effects..it's impossible for the liquid to move in such a way!"

But it IS real, there are no special effects, animatronics or whatsoever. I shall attempt to explain what happened in the video in as simple a manner as possible.

Firstly, the silver liquid you see is called ferrofluid, a kind of slippery oil that contains iron oxide particles-which are responsive to the presence of magnets.

The ferrofluid is attracted to the magnetic field, and at the same time the magnetic field is attracted to the ferrofluid. This helps to shape the ferrofluid into concentrated columns. Surface tension in the oil causes each column to pull in on itself, forming sharp spikes.

The following photos (from the internet) shows a magnet being brought closer to the underside of ferrofluid, from top to bottom:

The magnet will pull iron oxide particles out of the oil, forming a clump of magnetic dust near the magnet. Iron oxide in the ferrofluid will not be pulled out of the fluid due to the presence of surfactants, which is active on the surface between the oil and the magnetic specks.

One end of the surfactant molecule holds on to the iron oxide, while the other holds on to the oil. When completely surrounded by surfactants, the particles will not be able to clump together. This means that wherever the iron oxide goes, the oil will follow.

Using this knowledge, the artists who made this video placed two spiral towers on a large plate containing ferrofluid. When the music starts, the magnetic field around the tower is strengthened.

The body of the tower was made using a new technique which utilizes one electromagnet, and its iron core is extended and sculpted. The ferrofluid covers the sculpted surface of the iron.

Movement of the spikes in the fluid is controlled on the surface by adjusting the power of the electromagnet. The iron body is shaped as a helical cone so that the fluid can move to the top of the cone when the magnetic field has enough strength.

Nowadays, ferrofluids are commonly used for commercial applications such as car suspensions and CDs. The artists were revolutionary in the sense that they applied the dynamic qualities of ferrofluid in the fine arts scene, with the aid of a computer to manipulate electromagnetic fields in the sculpture.

A bit of information on the artists:

SACHIKO KODAMA:

• Born in 1970.
• Has a strong interest in both science and the arts.
• Graduated from the Physics course in the Faculty of Science at Hokkaido University.
• Studied Plastic and Mixed Media in the Fine Arts Department of University of Tsukuba.
• Completed her Master's and Doctoral Program in Art and Design at Uni. of Tsukuba.
• Studied Computer Graphics and Holography Art in her doctoral research.

YASUSHI MIYAJIMA:

• Works with Sony Computer Science Laboratories (CSL).
• Contributed by synchronizing the ferrofluid movement to the musical playback in real time (using time series metadata).

Quote from Kodama in an interview with Patricia Faure Gallery:

"I am using a liquid material in this piece, and the liquid is moving like a creature. I met this material when I was studying Computer Graphics and Holography. When I met this material, I was so amazed, I thought I could make a new style of art."

Interesting, eh?

Streetscapes

Hey guys, hows the CNY holidays going? Hope you all are having a great time :D

And credits to Chon Fan and Nicholas for coming up with the caterpillar theme, its really creative. At the same time, its something we FNBE students can agree on-after all, we are caterpillars, and with much hard work and perseverance we'll become like that butterfly..

Anyways, I will now show you bits of the environment we live in: urban Kuala Lumpur. It is the economic capital of Malaysia, former mining town, home to countless kopitiams, and much, much more. These pics were taken by me sometime ago, hope you enjoy it:

Apartments around KLCC

Work hard, play hard

Jalan Tun Perak during an afternoon

Penchala Link around 7am

Taken in a mamak shop. Where else can you find Chinese decorations in an Indian eatery?

Chinese temple-just a stone's throw away from KLCC

OK, that's all for now. Will be posting something about the Morpho Towers video later on.

Ciao~