Category: Art

CU Flow Vis 2019
I love when science and art come together, which is why I’ve long been a fan of the Flow Vis course at CU Boulder. Some of my earliest posts on FYFD date from previous editions of the course. Here are a few of my favorite images from the Fall 2019 class, from the top:
- Ferrofluid and India ink merge in this colorful photo. A magnet underneath the mixture on the left side causes the dark spikes of ferrofluid, but without magnetic influence, the ink and ferrofluid form cell-like droplets.
- Although it looks like a shower head, this is actually fluorescent oobleck dripping through a strainer. A relatively long exposure time means that it’s impossible to tell whether the oobleck is falling in a fluid stream or broken-up chunks.
- These colorful water droplets are sitting on a hydrophobic surface, hence their extremely rounded edges. I particularly like how this makes each one like a little lens for the light shining through them and into their shadows.
- A thin layer of ferrofluid reacts to the magnet beneath. Gotta love those little streaks left behind the flow.
For those in the Front Range area, the Flow Vis class will be showcasing their work on Saturday, December 14th at the Fiske Planetarium. Snacks are at 4:30 pm and the show starts at 5 pm. For those not nearby, you can peruse the art from this semester and previous ones at your leisure online. (Image credits: colorful ferrofluid – R. Drevno; falling oobleck – A. Kumar; droplets – A. Barron; macro ferrofluid – A. Zetley)
December 9, 2019
“Magic Fluids”
In his short film, “Magic Fluids,” Roman De Giuli uses cyan, magenta, and yellow paints to generate a rainbow of macro colors. All the fluid motion you see is a practical effect, painstakingly created by layering paints and flow mediums of different densities. Like in Siqueiros’ “accidental painting” technique, the less dense paints will eventually rise through the upper layers and spread. De Giuli uses the effect for its motion, but the same physics is key for many artists who use acrylic pouring to paint. (Video and image credit: R. De Giuli)
December 5, 2019
“Stormscapes 4”
Frightening as they can be in the moment, storms have a power and majesty all their own. I’ve never seen a better way to capture that than through timelapse, and photographer Nicolaus Wegner offers a great one in “Stormscapes 4″. I particularly like how his frame captures the motion of storms and how they shear, rotate, and billow as they evolve. With a quick glance upward, it’s easy to miss that motion, even if it is fundamental to these storms. Sit back and enjoy. (Video and image credit: N. Wegner)
November 28, 2019
“Mocean”
Ocean waves are endlessly fascinating to watch. In “Mocean,” cinematographer Chris Bryan captures them in ways few ever see, thanks to his high-speed camera. Honestly, this film is so gorgeous that I don’t want to distract you with the science, so just go watch!
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All done? Pretty wonderful, right? There’s nothing quite like seeing those holes break and expand through sheets of water, tearing what looked solid into a spray of droplets that bleed salt into the atmosphere. Or how about those rib vortices underneath the waves? Or the cloud-like turbulence of the waves breaking overhead? How fortunate we are to see and capture and share such beauty! (Video and image credit: C. Bryan; via RedShark; submitted by Michael F.)
November 14, 2019
“Silk”
With the right lighting and eye, billowing streaks of dye and paint can become the ethereal wisps of silk. Artist Susi Sie explores this dichotomy in “Silk,” a short, fluidic film made entirely in macro. Sometimes there’s astounding beauty in the complexity of a fluid filmed up close. (Video and image credit: S. Sie)
October 31, 2019
“Transient 2”
Where cold and warm air meet, our atmosphere churns with energy. From the turbulence of supercell thunderclouds to the immense electrical discharge of lightning, there’s much that’s breathtaking about stormy skies. Photographer Dustin Farrell explores them, with a special emphasis on lightning, in his short film, “Transient 2″.
As seen in high-speed video, lightning strikes begin with tree-like leaders that split and spread, searching out the path of least resistance. Once that line from cloud to ground is discovered, electrons flow along a plasma channel that arcs from sky to earth. The estimated temperatures in the core of this plasma reach 50,000 Kelvin, far hotter than the Sun’s surface. It’s this heating that generates the blue-white glow of a lightning bolt. The heating also expands the air nearby explosively, producing the shock wave we hear as a crash of thunder. (Images and video credit: D. Farrell et al.; via Colossal)

October 23, 2019
A Broken Monitor’s Fingers
In this short video, the artists of Chemical Bouillon explore a broken LCD monitor and its liquid crystals. By sandwiching the fluid between thin, transparent sheets, they create dendritic shapes as the liquid crystals and other fluids (air? ink?) push into one another. There’s a lot here that’s likely connected to the Saffman-Taylor instability, but without knowing more details on the ingredients and set-up, it’s hard to speculate beyond that. (Video and image credit: Chemical Bouillon)
October 11, 2019
Explosive Flame Fronts
Though they look like jellyfish or space creatures, these images from photographer Linden Gledhill are actually explosions. What you’re seeing is the detonation of hydrogen gas with oxygen. The teal sphere with its wavy surface marks the flame front, and the crisp, stringy edges seen here and there in the foreground are the remains of a soap bubble that held the hydrogen before it sparked. You can see a similar set-up (using methane rather than hydrogen) in action here, and you can see other artistic takes on combustion in previous posts like this one. (Image credit: L. Gledhill, Flickr)
October 2, 2019
The Drama of Turbulence
Photographer Jason Wright captures dramatic views of Hawaiian landscapes. Moments like these remind us of the spectacular power of the ocean and atmosphere around us. Just look at all that incredible turbulence! See more of Wright’s work on his Instagram and website. (Image credit: J. Wright; via Colossal)
September 30, 2019
“Emergence”
Artist Susi Sie explores fluidic worlds through her macro lens. In “Emergence,” her focus is on ferrofluids immersed in other liquids. Beginning with tiny droplets traversing the thin fluid channels of a foam, she allows the unique qualities of ferrofluids to slowly take center stage. Dark blobs grow into curvy labyrinths as a magnetic fields come into play. Until ultimately the magnetic nature of the fluid becomes undeniable as scattered droplets elongate into miniature compass needles and swing around to follow the field lines. (Video and image credit: S. Sie)
September 19, 2019