Fabian Oefner:
"The shapes you see in these images are about the size of a thumbnail. They are created by mixing ferrofluid with water color and putting it into a magnetic field.
Ferrofluid is a magnetic solution with a viscosity similar to motor oil. When put under a magnetic field, the iron particles in the solution start to rearrange, forming the black channels and separating the water colors from the ferrofluid. The result are these peculiar looking structures."
More photos, and video demonstration.
via dataisnature
Eventually I'll stop making dot biz jokes but the reference is to Paintfx.biz, a dormant site that celebrated (?) digital painting techniques. Oefner's images above are electromechanically produced, then drastically enlarged and made into digital photos. They are the art equivalent of the tone wheel generators used to make crude additive synthesis in Hammond B-3 organs, employing magnetic heads in proximity to spinning gear-like discs to create sine tones, which are then blended using the organ stops. In these images a magnetic plate forms patterns, which are disrupted with syringes squirting pigments into the matrix.
...by Nicolas Bourriaud