teamLab Islands Dance! Art Museum and Learn & Play! Future Park in Oita
Jul 15 - Sep 25, 2016
Oita Art Museum Oita
DANCE! Art Museum
Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together – A Whole Year per Hour
This artwork is in a state of continuous change. Over a period of one hour, a year's worth of seasonal flowers blossoms and scatters.
The flowers bud, grow, and blossom before their petals begin to wither and eventually fade away. The cycle of growth and decay repeats itself in perpetuity. The flowers are interactive; depending on the proximity of the viewer to the work, or if the viewer touches the flowers, they simultaneously come to life or shed their petals, wither, and die all at once.
Neither a prerecorded animation nor on loop, the work is rendered in real time by a computer program. The interaction between the viewer and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork; previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur.
In spring in the Kunisaki Peninsula, there are many cherry blossoms in the mountains and rapeseed blossoms at their base. The abundance of flowers caused teamLab to wonder how many of these flowers were planted by people and how many were native to the environment. It is a place of great serenity and contentment, but this expansive body of flowers is an ecosystem influenced by human intervention. The boundary between the work of nature and the work of humans is extremely vague. Rather than nature and humans being in conflict, a healthy ecosystem is one that includes people. Unlike people of today, people in the past understood that humans cannot grasp nature in its entirety, and that it is not possible to control nature. Perhaps these people, who lived more closely aligned to the rules of nature, created this comfortable natural environment.
In premodern times, people flourished by the sea on secluded islands. Perhaps there is something of the premodern relationship between nature and people left in these islands, and we wonder how humans behaved when living under the assumption that nature cannot be controlled or grasped in its entirety.
Crows are chased and the chasing crows are destined to be chased as well, Division in Perspective – Light in Dark
A digital installation in three dimensions on seven screens.
This artwork explores Japanese spatial awareness. It exists in a three-dimensional space that we call ultrasubjective space. The Japanese mythical bird Yatagarasu,* rendered in light, flies around the space leaving trails of light in its path, creating spatial calligraphy. As the crows chase and are chased by one another through the air, they turn into flowers and eventually scatter.
The Itano Circus is a unique technique pioneered by creator animator Ichiro Itano. In this technique, a screen is packed to capacity with swarms of flying missiles that are drawn in a completely distorted perspective. These distortions give the audience a stronger sense of dynamic movement and impact. Through ultra-high-speed camera work and staging that envelops the viewer's perspective, this technique creates an overwhelmingly beautiful image.
In this digital artwork, an homage to the Itano Circus, teamLab has recreated this distortion of space formerly used in 2-D animation in a 3-D space. This is an exploration of 1) what sort of logical structure of perception constitutes this distortion of space pioneered by Japan's animators, and 2) the hypothesis that this is in line with the continuous tradition of Japanese spatial perception. By recreating this distortion in a 3-D space, teamLab widens the perspectival viewpoint. This work is also an experiment in visual experience, as it divides the viewer's perspective while deploying divided perspective into 3-D space.
*Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow, is a creature found in Japanese mythology. It is believed to represent the sun and the will of Heaven.
100 Years Sea Animation Diorama
This installation is a 10 minute condensed version of the artwork 100 Years Sea. The installation gives viewers the feeling that there is no border between the animated world and the real world, and the rising sea that eventually swallows them.
Historically Japanese artists painted and expressed waves using a combination of lines. These assembled lines give the impression of the life and energy of the sea as one living creature. Looking at the sea we feel awe, and it is probably due to this awe that Japanese artists chose to express the sea as a living entity. Japanese ancestors possibly saw the world as it is depicted in classic Japanese pictures.
Based on this idea, teamLab considered recombining the subjective view of ancient times with the fixed objective view of the modern world. The waves were created in a virtual 3-D space and then the space is converted into what teamLab calls, Ultra Subjective Space. In doing so, instead of viewing the work objectively, we may be able to discover a new form of expression in which viewers feel there is no border between the world of the movie and the world in which they exist. As a result the viewers may be able to feel the movie more physically.
United, Fragmented, Repeated and Impermanent World
Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800) was an early modern Japanese painter who was active in Kyoto in the mid-Edo period. Jakuchū has left us with a unique style of painting in which the surface is made up of a grid of tens of thousands of squares that are individually colored. Nirvana was inspired by the screen paintings Birds, Animals, and Flowering Plants and Trees, Flowers, Birds and Animals.
Jakuchū's square paintings remind us of computer-generated pixel art. It has been proposed that Jakuchū's squares pictures were inspired by industrial production constraints in the designs of Nishijin (traditional high-quality silk fabric that is woven in Nishijin, Kyoto). Pixel art was also born from functional limitations. Those functional limitations no longer exist but pixel art is still a very popular form of expression. This is perhaps why we feel an intuitive digital sense to Jakuchū's square works. The colors of Jakuchū's work are the result of the optical phenomena of visual mixing of color combinations within the squares. It appears as if Jakuchū understood optical mixing of colors at a time before Impressionism and Pointillism.
This artwork was created in a virtual 3-D space in which 3-D animals move. The space was then converted into what teamLab calls ultrasubjective space. Then, the color in the 3-D space is split by the color pattern of the squares. For example, if the pattern of a square is colored in red and blue, that part corresponds to purple in the three dimensional space.
The squares of the screen are fixed while the space continues to move, and thus the color inside the squares is on a different time axis to the space. Seen as a whole from a distance, brilliantly shining colors occur, and the world of plants and animals in the space will move at a slow time axis. When viewed up close, the colors divided by the finely drawn patterns of each square will change on a rapid time axis. Two time axes co-exist in this work.
In addition, parts of the image squares are filled in with the most frequent color in the squares, forming an abstract world. Furthermore, when a visitor stands in front of the work, the squares near them are similarly painted. The plants and animals move in space, but are abstracted by the fixed squares on-screen, creating a new visual expression through pixel art.
Universe of Water Particles
Universe of Water Particles is a virtual waterfall created in a virtual 3-D space using teamLab's concept of ultrasubjective space, a term that refers to the depiction of space found in premodern Japanese painting.
Computer-generated water consisting of hundreds of thousands of water particles is virtually poured onto a virtually sculpted rock. The computer calculates the movement of the particles to produce a simulation of water that flows in accordance with the laws of physics. Lines are drawn in relation to a selection of 0.1% of the particles. The sinuousness of the lines depends on the overall interaction of the water particles.
In premodern Japanese painting, oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water were expressed using a series of lines. These lines give the impression of movement and life, as though water was a living entity. This form of expression leads us to explore why premodern people sensed life in rivers and oceans. Universe of Water Particles fuses the objective world of today's knowledge with the subjective world of premodern people.
When viewing this artwork, regardless of the fact that the waterfall is a reproduction of physical phenomena, it can be possible to feel a sense of life in the collection of lines.
If, when viewing this artwork—as opposed to a video of a waterfall shot with a video camera—people feel the barrier between themselves and the waterfall dissolve, they become immersed in the work as if the waterfall is luring them in. Perhaps we can find a connection to the way premodern Japanese people perceived the world and consequently behaved towards it.
If we regard ourselves as part of nature, and consider nature as something not just to be observed, it is possible to feel that there is no boundary between ourselves and nature.
Learn & Play! Future Park
Sketch Aquarium
Visitors can observe the power of their creative imagination through Sketch Aquarium. Each participant is invited to color a drawing of a sea creature of his or her preference. Once completed, visitors will be able to see their creation come to life in a giant aquarium and swim with all of the other sea creatures. Visitors may also touch the fish to see them swim away, or touch the virtual food bag to feed the fish.
Light Ball Orchestra
Rolling a light-ball changes its color and sound. Combined, the light-balls form an orchestra!
The overhead light-balls communicate with those on the floor, as one is touched, the surrounding balls will be affected, changing the color of the entire space. Roll the light-ball in front of you and it will change color and release sound. In the same space participants use their bodies, interacting with the different-sized light-balls to change the color of the space and to make music.
A Table where Little People Live
In this installation, little people run across the interactive screen of a tabletop around which children sit or stand. Children are encouraged to interact with the little people by placing objects on the table. As each new object is introduced, the movements of the little people change; they interact with the objects by jumping, climbing, and sliding onto them.
Create! Hopscotch for Geniuses
Create! Hopscotch for Geniuses is the digital version of the childhood game hopscotch. Participants are invited to create their own hopscotch course, consisting of projected circular, triangular, and square shapes. Each participant is able to determine the level of difficulty while making full use of his or her imaginative and creative skills. Different sound effects and beautiful images emerge as participants land on the same shape or color in succession.
Story of the Time when Gods were Everywhere
As the symbols on the screen are touched by children, they evolve into the images that they represent. As more images are created by this tactile function, a story begins to emerge. The objects that emerge from the symbols influence one another and are influenced by the actions of other people. For example, a bird lands on a tree, a sheep runs away from a dog, and a sheep dances as a child approaches it.
(Last entrance at 17:30)
Adults: JPY 1500
High School & College Students: JPY 1200
In Advance/Group Pricing (over 20 guests)
Pair Tickets (Reduced Price for 2 Tickets)
* Pair split ticket (Available through Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pia, and Seven-Eleven only)
High School : JPY 2000
* Junior High School student and younger are free (certification required)
* Elementary school students and under must be accompanied by a guardian (over 18). One guardian may accompany up to 4 children.
* Peawari ticket Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pia (Seven - Eleven) limited sale
* Guests with physical or mental disabilities and their caretakers are free (certification required)
* Guests carrying an "Oita Art Museum Annual Passport" get are free for their first visit. But second and subsequent admission fees will be 1000 yen.
[Ticket Sales]
Advance tickets on sale from June 1, 2016 to July 14, 2016
Lawson ticket [L Code: 83333]
Ticket Pia [P code: 990-306]
Tokiwa Hall, Tokiwa Beppu, TOS housing Messe, Oita City Art Museum
Oita Art Museum
Oita-ken, Oita city, Daiji Ueno 865
Featured on PHILLIPS 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design HongKong, Nov 26, 2017
Founded in 2001 by the physicist and IT graduate Toshiyuki Inoko, teamLab is aTokyo-based interdisciplinary art collective whose practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, technology, and design, while while breaking down the paradigms surrounding their conventional definitions and divisions.(Excerpt from the text)
Featured on Oita Godo Shimbun, Sep 21, 2016
チームラボ展 7万人を突破
大分市美術館で開かれている特別展「チームラボ★アイランド踊る!美術館と、学ぶ!未来の遊園地」(大分合同新聞社共催)の観覧者数が21日、7万人を突破した。(Excerpt from the text)
Featured on Oita Keizai Shimbun, Aug 30, 2016
大分市美術館で開催中の「チームラボ」展、観覧者が5万人に
大分市美術館(大分市上野町、TEL 097-554-5800)で現在開催中の大規模展覧会「チームラボアイランド 踊る!美術館と、学ぶ! 未来の遊園地」の来場者が8月25日、5万人を突破した。チームラボ(東京都文京区)はプログラマーやロボットエンジニア、数学者、建築家、デザイナーらで組織する東京大学発のベンチャー企業。(Excerpt from the text)
Featured on Oita Keizai Shimbun, Jul 12, 2016
大分でチームラボ「踊る!美術館と、学ぶ!未来の遊園地」 大分初大規模展
大分市美術館(大分市上野町、TEL 097-554-5800)で7月15日から、大規模展覧会「チームラボアイランド 踊る!美術館と、学ぶ! 未来の遊園地」が開かれる。「チームラボ」(東京都文京区)はプログラマーやロボットエンジニア、数学者、建築家、デザイナーらで組織する東京大学発のベンチャー企業。(Excerpt from the text)
EXHIBITIONS NEARBY
Four Seasons, a 1000 Years, Terraced Rice Fields - Tashibunosho, Oita
Jan 10, 2016 - Permanent
Bungotakada City Hall, Oita
teamLab Gallery Showa no Machi, Oita
Apr 23, 2017 - Permanent
teamLab Gallery Matama Beach, Kunisaki Peninsula
Mar 21, 2015 - Permanent
teamLab Gallery Matama Beach, Oita
July 7, 2018 - Fall 2020
Nov 05, 2019 - Permanent
Huangpu District, Shanghai