Sudden Words, Suddenly Gone
Robert Krulwich:
Shinichi Maruyama, who lives in New York, takes a glass of water (or sometimes a mop or a big calligraphic brush) and with a swirl of his hand or his wrist or by some voodoo which he probably can’t explain, he is able to turn sheets of liquid molecules into Japanese calligraphy. He calls them “Kusho” or “writing in the sky.”
How does he do it? The water (or sometimes it’s ink) holds its shape for a beat because water molecules are sticky. Water’s hydrogen atoms cling to their neighbors so fiercely that a sheet of water, even flying through the air, keeps its surface tension, a kind of ‘sticky skin’ that holds things together, at least for a while.
(Video at link)
Shinichi Maruyama: works for sale, at Bruce Silverstein Gallery