guitar with ferrofluid, pink noise machine & biodata synth make up love hultén’s second book

WORKS II by Love Hultén shows designer’s recent projects

Love Hultén introduces WORKS II, his second anthology documenting his works including a guitar with ferrofluid, a pink noise machine, and a biodata synthesizer. Through 152 pages, the hardcover book named WORKS II show the custom machines he has done between 2022 and 2025. It reports 66 individual projects, each combining sound, electronics, and woodworking, and the publication is self-released, printed in a limited edition of 600 copies, and bound in rayon cloth with gold foil details. For the second book, the Swedish designer also publishes the ferrofluid visualizer he presented with designboom during Sónar+D as well as his synthesizer with crab.

Alongside these, the sound sculpture with bonsai tree on the side also appears, gracing the pages as photographs near many of the designer’s musical instruments made of wood and metal combined. WORKS II provides a meeting point between digital systems and handmade materials such as guitar with ferrofluid or a biodata synthesizer, and Love Hultén even adds his personal notes on the design sketches and finished builds, a rare opportunity for the readers to see what occurred within the three years of his studio practice. So far, the designer says that there will only be 600 copies available for WORKS II and he has no plans yet to add more after the book’s run.

guitar ferrofluid biodata synthesizer
synthesizer with JU06A, V256, Oceans 11 and a mechanical MIDI crab | all images courtesy of Love Hultén

Biodata synthesizer and guitar with ferrofluid in the book

Other than the guitar and machines with ferrofluid, the next project included in WORKS II is the biodata synthesizer Hymns from the Sun, which was built from Hinoki Cypress wood and translates plant data into sounds. The Singer, commissioned by artist Sean Mahan, is also present, composed of three toy sewing machines from the 1970s that produce sounds using sequencers or a pull-out keyboard. Then, there’s a pink noise lab machine made from wood and acrylic, built for musician Pantone Vu. It comes with a custom disc sequencer with a stylus that moves horizontally, allowing for synced or offset timing.

Throughout the book, the designer highlights each of his works graciously, dedicating shared and divided sections for them with imagery and notes. Here, the mahogany-made biodata synthesizer Granular Beast and MEMTEC, a personal project that includes a looper, capacitive pins for touch control, and a custom-built tape delay, find their homes. Love Hultén also features a modular unit with 17 stepper motors and a modified keyboard, with a capacitive touch system replacing the traditional keys, as well as an upright synthesizer made of oak wood with custom casters, functioning as a self-contained vertical synthesizer system. These, the guitars with ferrofluid, and many more, form part of Love Hultén’s recent publication named WORKS II.

guitar ferrofluid biodata synthesizer
polyphonic electroacoustic synthesizer