Where you one of those kids who liked to wave a magnet against your old CRT display to watch the rainbow of colors bending to your will? You certainly weren't the only one, and a German artist wants to help you relive those memories, albeit on a grander scale.

Carsten Nicolai created the "crt mgn" project in memory of artist Nam June Paik and his work with magnets. The installation consists of two arms equipped with magnets thar swing like pendulums above two CRT displays. The movement of the magnets creates a bright, rippling effect across the monitors. Carsten also took photos of the effects, producing images such as the one above.

Just to make things a little more haunting--or perhaps relaxing to some--the magnetic arms produce an electric current that turns the magnetic fluctuations into sound. Since the arms don't swing at regular intervals, this result in some strange sounds and also some interesting visual patterns on the CRT.

Sadly, modern monitors are less likely to produce such great results--unless you poke at an uncovered LCD, anyway. If you're in Berlin between now and May 18, 2013, though, be sure to check out crt mgn at the Eigen+Art gallery.

[Carsten Nicolai via Gizmodo]

Get more GeekTech: Twitter - Facebook - RSS | Tip us off