teamLab: Transcending Boundaries | teamLab

PAST EXHIBITION

Jan 25 - Mar 11, 2017PACE LONDON, London

PAST EXHIBITION

Jan 25 - Mar 11, 2017PACE LONDON, London

Removing the Boundaries Between Artworks

In the mind, there are no boundaries between ideas and concepts, they are inherently ambiguous and influence and interact with each other. In order for ideas and concepts to be expressed in the real world it is necessary to have a physical material substance through which they are mediated. Boundaries are created when ideas and concepts are materialized in the real world.

Within the digital domain, art is able to transcend physical and conceptual boundaries. Digital technology allows art to break free from the frame and go beyond the boundaries that separate one work from another. Elements from one work can fluidly interact with and influence elements of the other works exhibited in the same space. In this way, the boundaries between art pieces dissolve.

ARTWORKS

Universe of Water Particles, Transcending Boundaries

Water is represented by a continuum of numerous water particles. The interaction between the particles is calculated, and then lines are drawn in relation to the behavior of the water particles. The lines are “flattened” using what teamLab considers to be ultrasubjective space.
When a person stands on the waterfall, they obstruct the flow of water like a rock, and the flow of water changes. The flow of water continues to transform due to the interaction of people. Previous visual states can never be replicated and will never reoccur. 
The flow of the waterfall influences other artworks.

Impermanent Life

In the background, cherry blossoms bloom and scatter, the cycle of life repeats. From the center of the background a circle is born which increases in size with a constant rhythm. Depending on the circle the light and darkness of the background world changes.

Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Ephemeral Life

When no one is in the space, it is completely dark and nothing exists. When people enter the space and stand still, butterflies are born from their feet where they stand, or from their hands where they touch the wall. When people touch the butterflies themselves, the butterflies die.

The butterflies fly beyond borders and through other artworks, entering monitors or leaving rooms, dissolving the boundaries between artworks and flying through other works. By flying seamlessly through the other pieces, the artwork is freed from the concept of “frames” and blurs the boundaries between works. The butterflies are influenced by other artworks as they fly.

Only the butterflies born from people fly in this exhibition. If people kill more butterflies than they create, this artwork will cease to exist.

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. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork: previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.

The Void

A pitch black artwork with nothing in it.
Because it is empty, anything can enter it. Infinite possibilities open up. Because it is empty, it highlights other existences and concepts.

Enso

Enso is the Zen practice of drawing a circle with a single brush stroke. This artwork depicts an Enso drawn as Spatial Calligraphy. The brush stroke is suspended in space but the viewpoint changes to reveal the circle Enso. teamLab has been working on Spatial Calligraphy since the collective formed. A new interpretation of traditional calligraphy, Spatial Calligraphy reconstructs calligraphy in three-dimensional space and expresses the depth, speed and power of the brush stroke.

In Zen, Enso is a circle that has since ancient times been written with canes or sticks in midair. It is said to represent enlightenment, truth, the entirety of the universe, and equality. The circle also reflects the hearts and minds of those who view it, with its interpretation left to the individual.

Dark Waves

All oceans are connected to each other, and so are all the waves in this world.

In classical East Asian art, waves are often expressed using a combination of lines. These waves created by lines allow us to realize that each wave is one part of a larger flow, and conveys life as though the waves are a living entity.

When the waves rise, we can feel a powerful breath of life, as though life is blooming. It feels as though each wave has a life of its own. But when the waves collapse and disappear, we realize, with a sense of fragility, that they were a part of the ocean. And that ocean is connected to all of the other oceans. In other words, all of the waves in the world are connected to each other.
The waves seem alive because life is like a rising wave. It is a miraculous phenomenon that continuously emerges from a single, continuous ocean.

The waves are expressed through a continuous body of countless water particles. The interactions of particles are calculated, and then the movement of water is simulated in three-dimensional space. Lines are created along the trajectories of the water particles, and drawn on the surface layer of the three-dimensional waves.
The lines are created with what teamLab refers to as Ultrasubjective Space. In contrast to space that is created through, or cut out by, lenses and perspective, Ultrasubjective Space does not fix the viewer’s viewpoint and in turn frees the body. The wall that the waves are seen on does not become a boundary between the viewer and the artwork, and the artwork space is continuous with the space of the viewer’s body.

Flowers Bloom on People

Without people this installation is a dark space. When people enter the room and stand still flowers blossom on the people and before long the flowers spread out below their feet. When those flowers come close to another person they spread in that direction and connect.

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. When people are still, more flowers are born and simultaneously bloom. When the viewer moves the flowers begin to wither, die and fade away.

This artwork is in continuous change, neither a pre-recorded animation nor on loop, the work is rendered in real time by a computer program. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork; previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur.

VISIT US

Venue Details

teamLab: Transcending Boundaries

Term

Jan 25 - Mar 11, 2017

Hours

11:00 - 16:00
Tuesday to Saturday
Mondays by appointment only

Admission Fee

Free

Website

PACE London

ACCESS

Address

PACE LONDON
6 Burlington Gardens London W1S 3ET

For private viewing

Please contact londoninfo@pacegallery.com

Notes

Notes on viewing the work, Flowers Bloom on People
-Up to 5 people can enter the room at a time. Staff will assist you when to enter and exit. If there is a queue, we may ask to come out after 5 min.
-Please note that this work contains strong light and is displayed a complete dark room. You can come out anytime you want.
-To fully enjoy this work, stand in the center of the room. In addition, we recommend you to wear white clothes. There are several white scarves available, please ask our staff.

NEWS

Featured on 探享家 by LEXUS, may 21, 2018

建立新的联系:数字技术和艺术

过去,“全息投影”一类的词汇远不如现在普及,但是们所创造的世界。复杂的传感器数列和数字投影仪伴 teamLab 从那时起就已经开始创作数码艺术了。最初,随着幽灵般的算法嗡嗡作响,为你编织出一个奇幻的的成员大部分是程序员。（Excerpt from the text）

Featured on Bloomberg, Nov 28, 2017

TeamLab on 'Brilliant Ideas' | Episode 67

Founded in 2001 by Toshiyuki Inoko, teamLab is a 400-strong Japanese digital art collective whose members include artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects and designers.（Excerpt from the text）

Featured on Harper’s BAZAAR ART, Nov, 2017

步入光之幻境

走進 teamla)創造的〈水晶宇宙〉,數萬顆的LED燈懸掛在鏡面空間裡,有如水晶般閃閃發光, 拿出手機開啟 APP應用程式,還可以選取創造宇宙的各種元素,接著水晶宇宙就會跟著程式變化美麗的色彩,彷佛矗立在宇宙銀河系當中,非常魔幻!2015年,team Lab,被全球知名設計網站「designboom」評選為全球十大必看藝術展,並在米蘭世博會得到「Best Presentation」獎肯定。（Excerpt from the text）

ARTIST

teamLab

teamLab (f. 2001) is an international art collective. Their collaborative practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, and the natural world. Through art, the interdisciplinary group of specialists, including artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects, aims to explore the relationship between the self and the world, and new forms of perception.

In order to understand the world around them, people separate it into independent entities with perceived boundaries between them. teamLab seeks to transcend these boundaries in our perceptions of the world, of the relationship between the self and the world, and of the continuity of time. Everything exists in a long, fragile yet miraculous, borderless continuity.

teamLab’s works are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra;  Amos Rex, Helsinki; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul; and Asia Society Museum, New York, among others.

teamlab.art

Biographical Documents

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