The Way of the Sea, Transcending Space - Gold Light, the Nest

teamLab, 2018, Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

The Way of the Sea, Transcending Space - Gold Light, the Nest

teamLab, 2018, Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

A large nest floats in the center of the space. The work is viewed by lying down or sitting in the Floating Nest. This work starts when the shoal of fish from The Way of the Sea passes through the Flower Forest and enters the Floating Nest. The work ends when the fish leave the space and disappear.

Lie down in the Floating Nest, and the lines drawn by the traces of the fish appear to be drawn in three dimensions in the space. The body becomes immersed into the work, and the boundary between people and the work dissolves.

The fish are rendered in light as they fly around the space, leaving trails of light in their paths.

This work is part of a series called The Way of Birds. “The way of the bird” is a saying in Zen which refers to the fact that unlike a human road, the road of the bird is not fixed. The road of the bird is free, unfettered, and leaves no trace. Here, the birds are replaced with fish.

The movement of thousands of fish is beautiful and mysterious, like a single giant life form. The shoal of fish has neither a leader nor mutual consensus, but moves on the simple basis of, “If my neighbour moves, then I move too.” The biological mechanism that causes hundreds of fish to move at the same time is enigmatic. It seems there is a universal principle that humans do not understand. Likewise, the coloring of the shoal in this work is not predetermined. While affected by the presence of people in the space, each fish seems to obey some sort of primitive rule as it moves, drawing lines in the space and unintentionally painting the surfaces with complex and beautiful colors.

The work is rendered in real time by a computer program, it is neither a prerecorded animation nor imagery on loop.The work as a whole is in constant change; previous states will never be repeated and can never be seen again.