Ferrofluid Sculptures by Sachiko Kodama
December 27th, 2005
Ferrofluid is a very interesting material originally developed by NASA it has now found itself been used for a whole range of devices including dampers for controlling and stabilizing large building that move around in the wind. Whats also amazing is that they have such lovely visual qualities when magnetized. 
The term liquid architecture is used a lot in interactive architecture based on the ideas of how architecture becomes animated by adding the 4th Dimension of Time. Sachiko has taken this idea of liquid architecture more literally with these stunning sculpture made from Ferrofluid which changes its state by the introduction of electro-magnetic waves into the fuid turning it solid. 
Words can't describe so just enjoy this beautiful video from wmmna
Entry Filed under: Interactive,New Materials
37 Comments Add your own
1. fmr270 | January 21st, 2006 at 12:46 am
Amazing, the video is beautiful and mesmerizing. It’s like watching a dream come to life.
Keep up the magnificent exhibitions.
2. Budda Magoo | January 21st, 2006 at 12:51 am
SkyNet is pleased with your progress.
3. Roomba | January 21st, 2006 at 1:23 am
That it’s just so so cool looks like a crazy lova light
4. Jacobo | January 21st, 2006 at 2:19 am
amazing. Thanks for the vid.
5. » Ferrofluid Sculpt&hellip | January 21st, 2006 at 2:21 am
[...] Ferrofluid is a very interesting material originally developed by NASA it has now found itself been used for a whole range of devices including dampers for controlling and stabilizing large building that move around in the wind. Whats also amazing is that they have such lovely visual qualities when magnetized. [...]
6. Abulhasnaat | January 21st, 2006 at 4:09 am
how do they do that stuff????
i liked the dance though.
7. adamsimms | January 21st, 2006 at 4:48 am
i actually had the opportunity to see a show of this in montreal by another designer…
it was an amazing experience to see this liquid, its truely unique, erriee, and ‘out of this world’ type.
I could have stayed there all day and watched it and interact with it, its so neat to ‘blow’ on the liquid and see how interative it actually is…
definitly go check this stuff out
8. Ivan Minic | January 21st, 2006 at 5:21 am
Wow…. I’ve seen something bout this on discovery the other day…
9. pozican | January 21st, 2006 at 8:15 am
Leaves open far too many questions…
10. Source Code | January 21st, 2006 at 9:30 am
That is awesome! I so wish I had the equipment and resources to do this myself.
11. John | January 21st, 2006 at 12:17 pm
wow
12. oliver | January 21st, 2006 at 12:39 pm
WOW indeed.. the most awesome thing I have ever seen.. I wish I was an artist – the possibilities are limitless… great concept
13. Julian On Software »&hellip | January 21st, 2006 at 1:39 pm
[...] Interactive Architecture dot Org ยป Ferrofluid Sculptures by Sachiko Kodama “Ferrofluid is a very interesting material originally developed by NASA it has now found itself been used for a whole range of devices including dampers for controlling and stabilizing large building that move around in the wind. Whats also amazing is that they have such lovely visual qualities when magnetized.” They have some of this stuff at the British Science Museum — it’s super cool Cat: [...]
14. Julian | January 21st, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Londoners — if you want to see this ferrofluid stuff directly then pop over to the British Science Museum where they have a pan of this stuff with magnets. Neat stuff.
15. Refik | January 21st, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Wow amazing! You can’t believe it! Hip hop hura for science
16. Alan | January 21st, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Fantastic show!
17. Benny | January 21st, 2006 at 11:33 pm
I’ve actually made ferrofluid from FeCl solutions through a lab (provided by UCLA) in my high school chemistry class. Though I didn’t get it to spike, mainly because it wasn’t viscous enough, many other teams did and it did look pretty neat.
Amazing to see something like this done in such a big magnitude.
18. the english guy | January 22nd, 2006 at 12:07 am
Neat video
Very interesting stuff!
19. Chris | January 22nd, 2006 at 12:32 am
Try other low melting point metals.
According to this article, bismuth (diamagnetic) can be found at a hunting store.
http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/magnets/suspension.html
One might also experiment with powdered graphite (dry or suspended in oil), or one of many low melting point alloys.
20. Tim | January 22nd, 2006 at 1:35 am
Source Code and oliver, you don’t have to be an artist or have special equipment. You can definitely buy little bottles of this stuff online, including on eBay. Just search for “ferrofluid.” It works great if you have a tube or plate of glass and a strong neodymium magnet.
21. MV | January 22nd, 2006 at 9:32 am
These people must be stopped before CyberDyne Systems get a hold of the technology.
22. Greg | January 23rd, 2006 at 2:20 am
But how did they get it to spike etc.?
Namely, to control it? I’d like to build a small display case for my home containing a pan of this liquid (found a 1 liter bottle online for about $120 USD) and under-the-pan floor cabinet housed magnet and (control unit?) – how did they control the spiking, etc.? How would you control a magnetic field to such a degree that you could determine where, what, and how much to spike/bubble, etc.?
THANKS!
23. mihai (romania) | January 24th, 2006 at 7:59 am
very interesting, could that respond at light changes?
liquid metal sculpture (tin – drop by drop)
24. Kyle | January 27th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Shoot the links are down, I hope they come back up. Does anyone know of mirror sites?
25. Alan Eliasen | January 31st, 2006 at 5:59 am
There was a display of ferromagnetic fluids at the Boston Science Museum about a year ago. I dunno if it would still be there or not. They also had some cool clay-like material that would get stiff in the presence of a magnetic field, and turn back to a near-liquid when the field was removed. Cool!
You don’t need to do anything special to get this stuff to create spikes. It does it naturally in the presence of a magnetic field. This must correspond to some minimum-energy state. You don’t need fine magnetic fields to produce these effects. In the exhibit I saw, you could just move a couple of magnets nearer and farther. They weren’t any fancy magnets, just big permanent dipole magnets. I think it would be very difficult to control the spikes to any degree, as they form spontaneously even in a large-scale, smooth dipole field.
So, all you need to create your own display and some cool effects is a container of this fluid and some magnets. Nothing special. Just experiment. You could try using some variable electromagnetic fields, but that’s not necessary to create spikes and such.
26. BZ | February 3rd, 2006 at 1:46 am
This would be a great demo for med students. Guzzle a pint and volunteer for the MRI ride.
27. MM | February 7th, 2006 at 3:23 am
>Does anyone know of mirror sites?
this might be sachiko’s mirror site.
http://www.kodama.hc.uec.ac.jp/protrudeflow/works/index.html
28. veerle | May 31st, 2006 at 12:00 pm
What interests me is the fact that the liquid in the video seemed to react to sound as well? Am i right here? Can somebody explain if and how this matter reacts to soundwaves?
Veerle
29. Ruairi | May 31st, 2006 at 9:25 pm
The soundwaves I believe were converted to electromagnetic waves hence the soundwaves appear to activate the fluid
30. General Sciences » &hellip | August 14th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
[...] Ferrofluid (magnetic fluid) sculptures by two Japanese artists that move like something out of a science fiction movie. You have to watch the video!read more | digg story [...]
31. joan kennedy | September 13th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
URL is always ‘not found’ when I try video…any suggestions? Really want to see it.
32. Ruairi | September 14th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAbycqD2UmQ&search=sachiko%20kodama
should work
33. i-eclectica.org » B&hellip | March 6th, 2007 at 12:13 am
[...] A designer who is taking this idea of liquid space more literally is Sachiko Kodama. She engages with space by creating solid-state ferrofluid sculptures through the introduction of electro-magnetic fields to the fluid. Ferrofluid is a very interesting material originally developed by NASA it has now found itself been used for a whole range of devices including liquid seals around the spinning drive shafts in hard disks, liquid coolants in loudspeakers, or dampers for controlling and stabilizing large building that move around in the wind. Whats also amazing is that they have such lovely visual qualities when magnetized. When ferrofluid is subjected to a sufficiently strong vertical magnetic field, the surface spontaneously forms a regular pattern of corrugations. Kodama uses this effect in quite a spectacular way (see images below), not just by applying magnetic fields but also changing them through the introduction of sounds (e.g. by clapping her hands or singing); through these sounds for example, emotions can directly change space. Video clips of Kodama’s work can either be downloaded from WMMNA or viewed at YouTube; interactivearchitecture.org also has a page dedicated to her work. [...]
34. Heeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy&hellip | March 18th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
[...] Heeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy Fishy! Posted in Uncategorized by deadseablogs on the January 21st, 2006 Looks like I’ve got a bum knee. I can only go about 2 miles now without it getting crazy sore :-/ (9.6mb, WMV) – Artistic vid magnetizing Ferrofluid [via] (Streaming, Flash?) – Awesome Honda video with human choir sound effects [via] (18.2mb, WMV) – Guy plays videogame tunes on huge pipeorgan, other good’uns [via] (Streaming, Google) – 502km/h maglev train [via] (2.0mb, WMV) – That Nextel Commercial with dancing office guys [via] (1.2mb, MPG) – Bert (the muppet) rocket contest [via] (7.2mb, WMVWeird video of TONS of fish jumping into a boat!) – [via] (Streaming, ?) – weird handheld LED musical instrument [via] [...]
35. bryan | August 22nd, 2007 at 6:56 am
look I know tons of people that would love to have a smaller version of atower in theri houses to watch when there favorite music is playing so when is somone going to start produceing these things and encaseing them so there safe and won’t spill or stain and I think this is a huge cash cow somone has yet to tap into.
36. patricia faure gallery | September 17th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
We’ve got a few of Sachiko Kodama’s ferrofluid pieces at Patricia Faure Gallery in Santa Monica. Anyone in the area is invited to please stop by, say hello, and see this stuff in person. We can honestly stare at it for hours and hours!
37. Amazing Ferrofluid | Etix&hellip | January 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
[...] bothered to really look at it (now I wish I had and posted this as soon as I could). From the Interactive Architecture blog: stunning sculpture made from Ferrofluid which changes its state by the introduction of [...]
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