Like a laptop-friendly lava lamp, Amsterdam-based artist Kamiel Rongen's trippy, fluid art videos are truly mesmerizing. His Waterballets are a kaleidoscopic pas de deux of water and paint contained within the artist's own aquarium. The paint, added to the tank at different pressures for different effects, seems to billow like smoke in one moment, crash like waves in another, and blaze like fire mere seconds later, all within its little glass fish bowl. It's way too easy to get lost in the psychedelia of it all.
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Rongen's process is equally fascinating: according to the artist, he begins by creating an original piece of music and "[visualizing] the sounds in an abstract way." Then, he adds resistance fluid to the surface of the water, and begins to mix various paints, using different techniques to add each color to the water. As fun as it sounds, the artist tells Creators that editing is actually his favorite part of this process; working alone means that he usually can't look at what's happening on camera, so "finding those little happy moments makes it quite addictive."
It's addictive to watch, too. Rongen's videos regularly get thousands of views on Vimeo, and regarding the reception of his work, he simply says that, "When I can give people a good feeling by creating a mix of colors and sounds, I'm really happy." Then truly, this artist's Waterballet is en pointe.
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