ENTER THE MATRIX WITH THE ‘CRYSTAL UNIVERSE’ ART INSTALLATION
Don your best pleather frock and bust out those shades, because Japanese tech-art studio TeamLab’s latest creation, “Crystal Universe,” has gone full Matrix.It might not actually be raining binary within the Crystal Universe, but a system of seemingly infinite, programable LEDs emulate the look of streaming data. And the best part? It’s completely interactive.“The viewer of the artwork can enter and walk around in the three-dimensional light space,” explains the team. “When the viewer enters the space they will cause a change that will affect the lights, and that change will continue to cause change indefinitely. You can also access the lights from a smartphone, by selecting a universe element, facing the Crystal Universe, and swiping towards it.”The result is spectacular, sending patterns of light from hand to hallway in a split-second. “It’s all made possible thanks to our Interactive 4D Vision display technology, which uses a common control system to project simple recreations of real objects, that can move in three dimensions.”A collaboration between programmers, artists, engineers, mathematicians, architects, and more, this isn’t TeamLab’s first dive into the world of tech-inspired art. Their previous works include a floating flower garden, and Crystal Universe’s predecessor, the 3D fireworks cube. “We like to think of ourselves as ‘ultra-technologists,’ aiming to achieve a balance between art, science, technology and creativity,” they say.Mission: accomplished. Should you find yourself in Tokyo, visit the Pola Museum Annex from Aug 21 – Sep 27, 2015, to see this bit of crazy for yourself! Crystal Universe will be on display through September 27 at the Pola Museum Annex in Tokyo.