The most beautiful installation at the exhibition at Ars Electronica Center is called Protrude, Flow by two girls (Sachiko Kodama and Minako Takeno) from Japan. The installation is a combination of six strong, computer-controlled magnets and a black, thick fluid. The fluid is made of a mix of paraffin oil and metal dust which produces a slimy animal that can be pushed and pulled by the magnets.

Five of the magnets are below a metal plate where the fluids resides. The sixth magnet sits on top of it in the middle pulling the fluid up while the other magnets attract the fluid either to the middle or one of the four corners.

The result is a awesome beauty, a hybrid of flow and magnetic field structures. The fluid conglomerates shaped like a hiding hedgehog in one moment and jumps up in sparks in another. Fucking beautiful and able to stun the spectator for more than a moment.

The creators have also attached a microphone to the installation. The microphone was hanging from above and it‘s impact was merely visible as the room was quite noisy and it was pretty unclear when it was actually switched on and when it was just the computer program that was in control of the magnetic melting pot.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera as I would have loved to provide a movie for you. Haven‘t found movies of it on the web so far either. If you have or have found one, please post a link as a comment here. Thanks.