teamLab is a renowned Japanese art collective and interdisciplinary group of ultra-technologists. They are known for their innovative and immersive digital art installations that combine technology, art, science, and nature. The teamLab art installations often involve interactive elements, allowing visitors to engage with and become a part of the artwork.
teamlab Key Features
teamLab Borderless offers an immersive experience with dynamic and interactive digital artworks that respond to human presence and movement. The museum’s design ensures seamless transitions between artworks, creating a continuous and immersive journey for visitors. Known for interactive digital installations, the museum allows active engagement with digital art, where touch and movement influence the installations. Utilizing cutting-edge projection mapping technology, teamLab Borderless transforms surfaces into visually stunning canvases for ever-evolving digital art. Many artworks explore the integration of nature and technology, forming virtual ecosystems that respond organically to human interaction.
teamLab Around Japan
Let’s take a look at the teamLab installations around Japan.
teamLab Planets, Tokyo
Credit: Unsplash
Check it out on teamLab’s official website
From July 2018 to the end of 2027
teamLab Planets in Toyosu, Tokyo, features a variety of interactive digital installations, often with a focus on water and the theme of continuity. Visitors can wade through knee-deep water in some areas, interacting with and influencing the digital art projections. The immersive experience stimulates the senses and creates a seamless connection between the art and the observer.
The installations in teamLab Planets are known for their stunning visual effects, dynamic movements, and the integration of sound and touch. The artworks often respond to the movements and interactions of the visitors, providing a highly engaging and participatory experience.
Since teamLab Planets is a seasonal exhibition, the specific installations may change from time to time, and it’s advisable to check the official teamLab website or contact the venue directly for the latest information, including exhibition schedules and any updates.
teamLab Borderless Mori Building Digital Art Museum
Check it out on the teamLab’s official website
Opening February 2024
A new teamLab space is set to open in February 2024 inside Azabudai Hills. Though artworks are still being finalized, one of them, “Bubble Universe,” focuses on the concept of light.
In this artwork, numerous spheres hold diverse lights—physical, soap bubble-like, jelly-mass-shaped—interacting within and with the surroundings. Each sphere contributes to the other’s light, forming a dynamic and interconnected environment. The non-physical lights, visible only in perception, emerge from our senses, resonating with tones as people move.
The new exhibition will be hosted at Mori Building’s Azabudai Hills. The building focuses on many aspects related to wellness, sustainability and urban safety, incorporating earthquake-resistant designs and a self-sufficient power system in case of disasters. The three towers utilize high-strength steel, concrete components, and vibration-control devices to enhance earthquake resistance. Mori Tower features a co-generation system, ensuring 100% power and heat supply during emergencies. Moreover, the complex includes a 6,000m² shelter capable of accommodating up to 3,600 people. As part of disaster relief efforts, Mori Building collaborates with Tokyo’s Minato City, offering Azabudai Hills as a disaster-response facility.
The project prioritizes green spaces, creating a harmonious urban oasis while embracing renewable energy practices for environmental sustainability.
teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka
Check it out on teamLab’s official website
Permanent – since July 2022
Nagai Botanical Garden, inaugurated in 1974 in Osaka’s Nagai Park, is a testament to the harmonious coexistence of nature and urban life. Encompassing 240,000 square meters and adorned with diverse flora that transitions with the seasons, the garden has become a wildlife sanctuary in the heart of the city. Nagai Botanical Garden not only showcases the beauty of cultivated nature but has also inadvertently fostered a complex web of life. Wild birds, perched atop the food chain, inhabit this green haven, emphasizing the delicate interdependence between the natural and the man-made. This synergy extends beyond the physical confines of the garden, touching on the nuanced contours of life’s existence.
teamLab’s art project “Digitized Nature” argues that life is an ambiguous and interconnected phenomenon. Drawing parallels to a vortex in the ocean, life, too, is not self-sustaining within a closed system. It mirrors a continuous flow, reliant on external matter and energy for sustenance. Contrary to inanimate objects with clearly defined structures, life’s boundaries are fluid, extending into the environment it inhabits.
teamLab’s art, an exploration of the intersection between nature and digital technology, blurs these boundaries. The Digitized Nature project, influenced by the trees and birds within the garden, transforms interactively based on weather conditions and the presence of people. This dynamic relationship between the artwork, the environment, and the observers exemplifies the interconnectedness of all elements.
The project not only underscores the delicate balance within Nagai Botanical Garden but also serves as a reminder of the inseparable connection between the environment, its inhabitants, and the transient nature of art. If the wildlife diminishes or the environment falters, the artwork will fade, illustrating the ephemeral and symbiotic nature of life within this man-made ecosystem.
teamLab Forest Fukuoka
Credit: Unsplash
Check it out on TeamLab’s official website
Permanent, since July 2022
teamLab Forest Fukuoka, housed in the Fukuoka City Hakata Ward’s Asian Art Museum, invites visitors into an immersive digital art experience. This innovative museum, an extension of the renowned art collective teamLab, transforms spaces through a fusion of technology, light, and sound. Divided into two unique sections, the Catching and Collecting Forest and the Athletics Forest, teamLab Forest offers a dynamic and interactive encounter with art.
The Catching and Collecting Forest introduces a novel learning concept—Catch, Study, Release—encouraging exploration and discovery through physical engagement. Visitors use their smartphones to capture diverse creatures, delve into their characteristics, and compile a personalized collection book.
The Athletics Forest, rooted in the idea of comprehending the world three-dimensionally through bodily interaction, helps participants immerse themselves in a complex and interactive realm, fostering spatial awareness. In both forests, teamLab Forest encourages visitors to engage with art in a multifaceted and participatory manner, bridging the gap between the physical and the digital.
teamLab: Existence in an Infinite Continuity
Himeji City Art Museum, Hyogo
Check it out on teamLab’s official website
July 22, 2023 – January 21, 2024
teamLab aspires to reshape human perception of the world through art. In this exhibition, participants will be immersed in a space where the physical reality blends seamlessly with the artwork’s space. This encounter enables individuals to realize the interconnectedness and continuity underlying the world.
In recent years, teamLab has been exploring the theme of “What is life?” stating that our existence results from the interplay between the mind, body, and the surrounding environment. This exhibition illustrates how teamLab’s current stance goes beyond conventional boundaries in perceiving living organisms and inanimate entities, showcasing the collective’s progress over the years and all the projects in Japan and abroad.
teamLab Exhibitions Not to Miss in Japan
Change the perspective between space, art, and technology and discover all teamLab digital experiences around Japan.
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Featured Image Credit: Unsplash
