Millefiori – A Hydromagnetic Chromamatrix

Millefiori - Fabian OefnerMillefiori – Fabian Oefner.

Fabian Oefner’s photographed mixtures of interacting ferro-fluids and watercolours appear as orderly distributed cells of polychromatic pigments – each photo a thumbnail sized liquid light show matrix.

Millefiori - Fabian OefnerMillefiori – Fabian Oefner.

Small drops of the magnetic fluid are added to a glass plate and then coerced into forming a landscape of ferro-fluid peaks by a small circular magnet. Fabian then adds different shades of watercolour to the ferro-fluid to disturb the magnetic fields between suspended iron particles.

Millefiori - Fabian OefnerMillefiori – Fabian Oefner.

Where as most reactions of immiscibility generate patterns of randomness, the ones here contain uniformity similar to those found in reaction-diffusion systems. A fine balance between just enough watercolour and too much creates a critically balanced dynamical process. Magnetism, liquid viscosity and surface tension are a few of many variables in this complex hydromagnetic kinetic system resulting in psychedelic patterns at the edge of spatio-temporal chaos.

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