Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Transcending Space

teamLab, 2019, Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Transcending Space

teamLab, 2019, Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

This work is to be viewed from a position close to the entrance of the space.


The artwork begins when the Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders enters the Small Universe in the Cave in the middle of the hallway. When other artworks enter the space, the butterflies leave.


The butterflies are born from people’s touch in the Butterfly House as part of the Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Ephemeral Life. They transcend the notion of frames, removing the boundaries between artwork spaces as they seamlessly fly through works.


If you stand at the position close to the entrance, the boundary between the wall and the floor disappears. Eventually, the body becomes immersed in the world of the artwork, and the boundary between the artwork and the viewer dissolves.


The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back: it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. It is in constant change: previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.