Run the Code: Data-Driven Art Decoded by Thoma Foundation x Blanton Museum of Art | teamLab

Run the Code: Data-Driven Art Decoded by Thoma Foundation x Blanton Museum of Art

2026.3.08(Sun) - 8.02(Sun)Blanton Museum of Art, Austin

Group Exhibition

Run the Code: Data-Driven Art Decoded by Thoma Foundation x Blanton Museum of Art

2026.3.08(Sun) - 8.02(Sun)Blanton Museum of Art, Austin

Group Exhibition

作品

The World of Irreversible Change

This work is both somewhere in time and here and now.

The world of the artwork changes with the real time of its location. Morning arrives in the artwork with the sunrise in the real world, and when the sun sets, evening begins. If it rains in the real world of the work’s location, it rains in the world of the artwork, and the flora that grow in the artwork change every day with each passing season.
The people’s lives also change continuously depending on the time of day and weather of the real world, and the festivals and events that are celebrated change with the seasons. Various stories take place every day, and the lives of people continue eternally.

The actions of viewers influence the world of the artwork. The people in the artwork respond when a viewer touches them, but if the interaction is limited, they return to their daily lives.
If the interaction is continuous, however, fights break out amongst the people in the artwork that are near to each other, leading to deaths. The fighting spreads throughout the city, which becomes engulfed in flames that last for over a year. As the city burns to the ground, the people in the artwork eventually die out.

In the ruined city where not a single person remains, the seasons still pass and the sun rises and sets with the time of the real world. After a few months, new flora begin to grow in the burnt ruins of the city.
The flora grow, bloom, and scatter repeatedly, changing daily with the real passage of time. The flowers and plants grow deeply over the course of a long period, and the flowers change throughout every year, continuing in perpetuity.

Once the world of this artwork begins to burn, the world from before can never be returned to.
The people who interact with the artwork cause this outcome.

关于 teamLab

teamLab是自2001年起开始活动的艺术团队。通过团队创作来探索艺术、科学、技术和自然界交汇点的国际性跨域艺术团队。由艺术家、程序员、工程师、CG动画师、数学家和建筑师等各个领域的专家组成。

teamLab想通过艺术，摸索人与世界的关系和新的认知。人类为了更好地认知世界，习惯性地把世界分割，并将其视为具有边界的事物。我们探索认知的边界，并试图超越人类对世界、对时间连续性的边界的认知。世间万物都是奇迹般地存在于积年累月且没有边界的连续性上的。

teamLab在纽约、伦敦、巴黎、新加坡、硅谷、北京、墨尔本等世界各地举办了艺术展。teamLab所开设的大型常设美术馆有位于东京台场的“teamLab Borderless”、位于东京丰洲的“teamLab Planets”、位于上海黄浦滨江的“teamLab 无界上海”、位于澳门的“澳门 teamLab 超自然空间”，位于北京的“teamLab无相艺术空间”等等。今后还将有更多的美术馆落地在汉堡、乌得勒支、吉达等地。

teamLab的作品被世界各大艺术机构收藏，如墨尔本维多利亚国家美术馆（墨尔本）、悉尼新南威尔士州美术馆（悉尼）、阿德莱德南澳大利亚艺术画廊（阿德莱德）、赫尔辛基阿莫斯·雷克斯美术馆（赫尔辛基）、旧金山亚洲艺术博物馆（旧金山）、洛杉矶现代美术馆（洛杉矶）、伊斯坦布尔Borusan当代艺术收藏馆（伊斯坦布尔）、纽约亚洲协会博物馆（纽约）。

teamlab.art

Biographical Documents

teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery, Martin Browne Contemporary and Ikkan Art.

Exhibition Overview

What happens when code and data become the raw materials of art?

In Run the Code, contemporary artists harness algorithms and generative AI models to create powerful, thought-provoking works that explore nature, art history, internet culture, and human behavior. Showcasing highlights from the Thoma Foundation’s Digital and Media Art Collection, this immersive exhibition transforms digital information into sensory works of art.

Included are some of the most important digital and generative artists working today: Refik Anadol, Daniel Canogar, Jenny Holzer, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, teamLab, Siebren Versteeg, Leo Villareal, and Marina Zurkow, among others.

Some create interactive systems that respond to your movement, touch, or presence — inviting you to become part of the artwork. Others design custom software that generates ever-evolving images right before your eyes. Digital landscapes reflect on our relationship with the natural world, while other works remix historical paintings and cultural archives through machine processes. Together, these artworks demonstrate that algorithms can be more than technical tools — they can also serve as a creative medium.

Though grounded in advanced technology, these artworks are deeply human, raising important questions for the digital age: What does it mean to create art in a world shaped by data? And how might it help us reimagine our relationship to the information that surrounds us? From interactive installations to complex systems running behind the scenes, Run the Code brings together art and technology in exciting, unexpected ways.

Organized by Hannah Klemm, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art