Created by tangent:, a design studio based in London and Tokyo, KIHOU (April 2013) is a bubbling brew of liquid light. Served in a small ceramic cube is a sticky translucent liquid, covered with a thin layer of black silicone oil. Fixed to the bottom of the pot: LED lights and a small pump. As air is pushed into the liquid, luminous “golden” bubbles break through the pitch-black surface. A striking contrast the studio describes as “mysterious”. If applied to a larger bowl (see images below) KIHOU becomes a tarry soup with molten spots, viscous, pulsating, primordial. “The elements breath life into the object,” says tangent:’s website, turning KIHOU into something the designers hope “people can feel affinity for and sympathise with.”

Studio tangent: was founded by Hideki Yoshimoto (Royal College of Art) and Yoshinaka Ono (Dentsu Inc) in 2013 and recently received the first international Lexus Design Award for the kinetic light installation INHAO.

Project page: KIHOU
tangent: on the Web | Vimeo