About Ink
Soft clouds of colour open slowly within dark water.
Their edges fold, stretch and dissolve, creating translucent shapes that seem to hang between liquid and smoke. Some areas remain dense and luminous, while others fade into the surrounding darkness.
Nothing has a completely fixed outline. Ink is a fluid world of suspended colour, delicate movement and changing density, inspired by the moment a drop of pigment enters water and begins to lose its original shape.
What happens when you stay
Hold to gather a drop, then release it and watch the colour bloom outward.
The form opens into folds and curling currents, becoming more intricate before gradually dispersing. Each release creates a new arrangement, influenced by where it begins and how the existing colour is moving.
Let one bloom unfold completely before adding another, or release several into the same region to see their shapes overlap. The experience changes from a single gesture into a sequence of drifting forms that slowly become part of the surrounding water.
Where it comes from
When ink enters water, its movement is shaped by several processes.
Diffusion gradually spreads pigment from areas of higher concentration into surrounding liquid, while fluid currents carry it through the water in a process called advection. Differences in density and small disturbances can create the familiar curling shapes seen in ink-drop photography.
These movements also connect with fluid dynamics, the study of how liquids and gases flow. Ink takes inspiration from the visual richness of these phenomena, translating pigment and water into layers of digital colour.
Its slow blooms offer a way to observe how a small release can become an unexpectedly complex form.
Things to try
- Hold for a moment before releasing a drop.
- Watch one bloom until its edges begin to fade.
- Release another drop inside an existing cloud.
- Leave the water undisturbed and follow the remaining currents.
How to explore Ink
You can explore with a mouse, a touch screen or your own hands.
Mouse and keyboard
- Move the pointerdraw a thread of ink.
- Hold the mouse buttongather a drop of ink.
- Release the buttonlet it bloom in the water.
- Use the wheel or ↑ ↓stir or still the water.
Touch
- Move a finger on the scenedraw a thread of ink.
- Keep a finger still for a momentgather a drop of ink.
- Lift your fingerlet it bloom in the water.
- Spread two fingers or bring them togetherstir or still the water.
Hands, with the camera
- Point with your index fingerdraw a thread of ink.
- Bring thumb and index together and holdgather a drop of ink.
- Separate thumb and indexlet it bloom in the water.
- Open your palm or close your fiststir or still the water.
A mouse, touch or keyboard is enough. Choosing “Hands” here only shows instructions; it never turns on the camera.