Morpo Tower

Morpo Tower can known as “Two Standing Spirals” is an installation that consists of two ferrofluid sculptures that moves synthetically to music. The two standing spiral tower are stand on a large plate that hold by ferrofluid. The body of the Morpo Tower was made by a new technique called “ferrofluid sculpture” which invented by Sachiko Kodama. It enables artists to create dynamic sculptures with fluid materials.



When the music start to play, the magnetic field around the tower is strengthened. So that, the spikes of the ferrofluid born from the bottom of the plate and slowly moving up, trembling and rotation around the edge of the iron spiral. This type of technique is using one electromagnet to process it. Its iron core is extended and sculpted. The sculpted surface of a three-dimensional iron shape that was made on an electronic NC lathe which covers by the ferrofluid. The adjusting the power of the electromagnet is controlled by the movement of the spikes in the fluid. The shape of the iron body is designed as helical so that the fluid can move to the top of the helical tower when the magnetic field is strong enough and the surface of the tower will responds dynamically to its magnetic environment.
The tower will appears to be a simple spiral shape when there is no magnetic field to let it process. But when the magnetic field around the tower is strengthened, spikes of ferrofluid are born again. At the same time, the tower’s surface dynamically morphs into a variety of textures ranging from soft fluid to minute moss, or to spiky shark’s teeth, or again change to a hard iron surface. The ferrofluid, with its smooth and black surface reaches the top of the tower, it will spreading like a fractal, defying gravity. The spikes of ferrofluid are made to rotate around the edge of the spiral cone and the sizes becoming large or small are depending on the strength of the magnetic field. The speed of the rotation of the spikes are controlled without motors or shaft mechanisms.



To control the synchronization of the ferrofluid with the music playback in real time, time series metadata are added to the music beforehand. The metadata consist of musical information, such as beat position, chord progression, and melody block information, and ferrofluid control information such as DC bias voltage and AC pattern. Each data record has a time stamp that indicates the timing of presentation. All data are stored in time-series order.
These time series metadata must be accurate for precise control of timing, so as to cancel the time delay of fluid movement. By this correction, the time when the protuberance of the spike reaches its maximum size is coincident with the beat of the music. As a result, the rhythm of the fluid movement coincides with the musical rhythm. When there is no sound, the fluid falls down into the plate and means that there is no magnetic field. As there are two towers in the installation, complicated expressions of surfaces become possible. Each tower’s surface pulsates, like one creature calling to the other.
Fluid moves synthetically with the music, as if it breathes, and the condition of the fluid's surface emerges as autonomous and complex. In this art we want to harmonize several opposing properties, such as hardness (iron) / softness (fluid) and freedom (desire for design) / restriction (natural powers such as gravity). This work emerges as an autonomous transformation of the material itself: sometimes it seems like a horn, sometimes a fir tree, and sometimes even like the Tower of Babel.

This work is conceptualized as an “organic tower.” The magnetic fluid, with a smooth black surface that seems to draw you in, reaches the top of the tower, spreading like a fractal, defying gravity.
The form and texture of the physical surface of the tower constantly alter between the hard iron core and the changing form of soft fluid. This is a dynamic sculpture, with reactable fluid surface.

By Lee Szu Pey