teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi | teamLab

Even if individual elements are separated in space and time, when a structural order appears among them, the elements transcend space and time and form a single entity. Despite significant changes in shape or size on the surface, or even if all of the elements are replaced, the single existence will be maintained. This spatiotemporal existence is part of the whole, it appears from the whole, and is returned to it. It is a living universe - a biocosmos.
Sculptural existence is born in space. It takes form on the ground as a mass and rises from the ground. Existence is born in the air, transcending the very concept of mass, and continues to exist mid-air, maintained in place. The boundaries of these existences are ambiguous, and the glowing spheres that compose them are continuously changing. Even when people fully immerse themselves in this sculpture, its existence remains intact. If broken by people, it naturally restores itself. Even if people try to move or push this floating entity, they cannot do so. Physical human actions cannot move the sculpture. 
Rather than a solid object, this sculptural entity is created by the order of energy generated by the phenomena of a unique environment. Let us call this existence High Order Sculpture. The artwork is inseparable from the environment and changes along with the environment. It transcends the conventional notions of physical objects—it sustains its existence mid-air, having ambiguous boundaries, and it is able to maintain its shape even when people immerse themselves physically into the sculpture, naturally restoring itself even if the sculpture breaks.

The strokes of color in this artwork do not have an overall focus; there is no guidance and no external influence. Through simple, localized interactions between color strokes and people, spontaneous order continuously emerges on its own, even as everything moves toward disorder.
Even if individual strokes are distant in space and time, when spontaneous orders appear, individual elements transcend space and time and form a single entity. Despite significant changes in shape or size on the surface, or even if the individual elements are replaced, the single existence will be maintained.This spatiotemporal existence is a part of the sea of disorder, it is swallowed by the sea, and yet continues to emerge from the disorder.Order and disorder, existence and the whole, continuously flow into one another without boundaries, as they rise and fall, collide and merge.
Images created by camera lenses and perspective represent the illusion of space, depicting a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane. In this illusion, the three-dimensional space appears beyond the two-dimensional surface, and the viewers are in a different space from the three-dimensional space, making the two-dimensional plane a boundary. With this, the viewpoint is fixed, and the viewer’s body is absent. In contrast, this artwork does not create an illusion of space. Instead, the space of the artwork directly exists in the same space as the viewer's body. Walls and floors do not act as a boundary between the person and the space of the artwork, but rather, the space of the artwork integrates with the space in which the viewer's body exists. The viewpoint is not fixed, and their body remains free.

The flow is influenced by the shape of the space and the presence of people, and it continuously interacts with and transforms with all the other flows in the artwork space. The flow is considered as a continuum of countless interacting particles, and lines are drawn by the trajectories of these particles. 
This artwork is not an illusion of space; the artwork space exists as it is in the space where people's bodies are, and the space is covered by the flow.
Images created by camera lenses and perspective represent the illusion of space, depicting a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane. In this illusion, the three-dimensional space appears beyond the two-dimensional surface, and the viewers are in a different space from the three-dimensional space, making the two-dimensional plane a boundary. With this, the viewpoint is fixed, and the viewer’s body is absent. In contrast, this artwork does not create an illusion of space. Instead, the space of the artwork directly exists in the same space as the viewer's body. Walls and floors do not act as a boundary between the person and the space of the artwork, but rather, the space of the artwork integrates with the space in which the viewer's body exists. The viewpoint is not fixed, and their body remains free.

Continuous trajectories fill up the space, becoming a three-dimensional form. The places where it is drawn are in constant flux, and the form of its existence transforms.
When people become one with the artwork, viewers see them existing as part of the world of the artwork. Likewise, when viewers themselves become one with the artwork, they are also seen as existing as part of the artwork’s world when observed by other viewers. 
Multiple viewpoints are placed within the space of the artwork, and the space around the viewpoints is cut out and flattened using Ultrasubjective Space. When this flat surface is placed in the exhibition space in the same relative position as the viewpoints, the exhibition space is superimposed with the world of the artwork. The viewer's viewpoint is not fixed, and they can look not only left and right but also in the depth direction, moving freely in all directions, exploring a physical perception in which the whole body is immersed in the world of the artwork.When the viewer sees other people overlapping with the artwork through the screen, for the viewer, it becomes equivalent to those people existing not only in the exhibition space but also in the space of the artwork world, making other people part of the artwork.

Flutters of butterflies appear from the ground and the walls where people touch.Through the simple interactions among the butterflies, a part of the artwork continues to create spontaneous order even as the entire flutter moves in disorder.
This piece is called Flutter of Butterflies. However, it is not an illusion of space; instead, the space of the artwork exists as it is in the space where people’s bodies are, filling the space with butterflies.
Images created by camera lenses and perspective represent the illusion of space, depicting a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane. In this illusion, the three-dimensional space appears beyond the two-dimensional surface, and the viewers are in a different space from the three-dimensional space, making the two-dimensional plane a boundary. With this, the viewpoint is fixed, and the viewer’s body is absent. In contrast, this artwork does not create an illusion of space. Instead, the space of the artwork directly exists in the same space as the viewer's body. Walls and floors do not act as a boundary between the person and the space of the artwork, but rather, the space of the artwork integrates with the space in which the viewer's body exists. The viewpoint is not fixed, and their body remains free.

Since the 2000s we have been creating spaces where people can experience art without boundaries between the interior and exterior. In the beginning this began with small spaces, which gradually became larger spaces, and then collections of large-scale experiences/large-scale collections of experiences. What has remained consistent throughout is that we design experiences rather than something physical.
In this endeavor, we have focused on what the necessary form is to value the memory of each individual person’s experience. For example, we think that forms that are easy for anyone to recall a common shared image of, are ones that are remembered as the same form, becoming an obstacle to become a unique memory of the individual’s experience.
The architecture of teamLab Phenomena has no clear boundary between the exterior and interior, similar to a kind of living organism whose outer skin and internal organs are connected by an organic skin. The experience of both the interior and exterior are continuous without boundaries, and the architecture has no easily identifiable form with a certain purpose, and there is no single fixed symbolic characteristic. Some recall the image as like a cloud, some feel the winding curves of the desert, a group of mushrooms, or the bones of a sabre tiger. The form is shaped inside the mind through each individual person’s experience.
We believe that an organic form is important to experience, so we have incorporated an organic shape for teamLab Phenomena. Especially with floors that are in constant contact with people, whereas previously only polyhedral shapes could be realized, we have been able to create a floor in a three-dimensional form. Therefore, the organic shape is a visual experience as well as a physical experience that is remembered by the body through changing perspectives and movement of the body. The boundary between the physical body and the space becomes ambiguous, leading to discoveries of the physical body. This experience, which is physically ingrained, becomes a spatial memory, continuous from the internal to the external, and will become a unique image in each individual person’s memory.
The museum we create is built with the experience as the starting point, and the exterior of the architecture is the fabric for a collection of experiences. The interior and exterior are one and the same, without boundaries.

Designed by teamLab Architects