12幅からなり、「自然と文明の衝突、循環、共生」をテーマにした絵物語。
コンピューター上の3次元空間に立体的に作品世界を構築し、「超主観空間」で映像化している。
1：花と屍 十二幅対 「都と貴族」
栄華極まる都。光源氏は、きらびやかな色彩の中で生活を送っていた。
2：花と屍 十二幅対 「繁栄と厄災」
都で、厄病が流行る。厄病の原因を探るため、光源氏は厄病を辿って、都の外へと旅立つ。
3：花と屍 十二幅対 「山の民と祭」
厄病を辿ると、山の村へ行き着いた。村では自然の恵みを祝い、祭りが行われていた。
4：花と屍 十二幅対 「森と日常」
祭りが終わり、日常に戻った村では厄病の影響を受けながらも、人々は果敢に生きていた。人々は木々を切り文明を発展させ、またさまざまな自然の恩恵を受けながら、豊かに暮らしていた。
5：花と屍 十二幅対 「神木とヤマタノオロチ」
山の村は、都でのさらなる発展のために多くの材木を依頼され、山の奥深くの巨木を切り倒すことになった。巨木を切り倒すと、突如そこからヤマタノオロチが現れる。ヤマタノオロチは怒り狂い、大雨を降らして洪水を起こす。
6：花と屍 十二幅対 「ヤマタノオロチと森の神々」
山の村の家々をなぎ倒し、暴れまわるヤマタノオロチに続き、森の神々がやってきて次々と人々を襲い始める。
7：花と屍 十二幅対 「戦場と兵器」
山の村は、武士に依頼し、山の村に武士の集団がやってくる。武士達とヤマタノオロチや森の神々との戦いがはじまる。
8：花と屍 十二幅対 「勝利と破壊」
武士達は、火矢などの文明を駆使し、激戦の末、武士の集団が勝利を収める。
9：花と屍 十二幅対 「荒野と飢え」
後に残ったのは燃え尽きた森の残骸。山の村は自然の恩恵を失い、飢えを予期し絶望する。
10：花と屍 十二幅対 「花と屍」
光源氏は、ヤマタノオロチや森の神々の屍に囲まれ呆然とする。困った光源氏は、ヤマタノオロチの屍に種をまいてみる。そうすると、屍から芽が出て、みるみる花々が咲いていく。その花々は、樹木に成長し、森が作られていく。
11：花と屍 十二幅対 「森と祭」
山の民たちは、森の恩恵をまた受けることができるようになり、文明を発展させながらも、森と共に生きていく決意をし、山の村ではまた祭りが行われる。
12：花と屍 十二幅対 「都と祭」
都では厄病が少し落ち着き、原因はよくわからないままだが、めでたいということで祭りが行われる。
家庭画報 INTERNATIONAL Japan EDITIONに、掲載。2016年3月1日
TeamLab is an innovative group that describes its members as ultra−specialists in a diverse range of deigital fields who create immersive art and education spaces.（本文抜粋）
Public Art Monthly art magazineに、掲載。Mar 9, 2015
Myth and Kitsch facing Technology
At a conference last year at the Mori Art Museum on the subject of internationalism in contemporary art, scholar Michio Hayashi theorized that the popular perception of “Japanese-ness” in the West was cemented in the 1980s by triangulating “kitsch hybridity,” “primordial nature” and “technological sophistication.” 1) Today, popular (especially commercially) contemporary art from East Asia can largely be placed somewhere inside that triangle. Recent exhibitions in Europe and the United States featuring Asian artists certainly fit the triangulation formula, exhibiting themes of technological futures.
1) Ryan Wong “Kitsch, Myth, and Technology: Japanese Art in the West” 『Hyperallergic』 2014. 8. 5teamLab has become quite a prominent group in both the East and the West, via the technological sophistication and the presentation of works that condense characteristics associated with contemporary art in Asia. Presented in Chelsea at the “Duality of Existence” exhibition last year, Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as Well – Light in Dark (2014) was one such example. The seven-projector, seven-screen digital animation installation tailed the swerving flight of a succession of crows that left floral trails in their wake. Despite the colorful splashes, the panel screens presented a spectacle without story, a fantastic display of prismatic fireworks without emotional or narrative engagement. Animated with elements of epic films yet dense with a kitsch undertone, teamLab continues to put forth some of the most original contemporary art in recent years.
The Revolutionary Warping of an Analogue Motif
Setting sail on the tradition of 17th-century Japanese art and contemporary forms of anime, teamLab navigates the confluence of art, technology and design. Founded by Toshiyuki Inoko and a group of his university friends in 2001, teamLab works as a collective creative force to celebrate the vitality of nature and strive to expand our understanding of human perception. It is an interdisciplinary creative group that brings together professionals from various fields in the information age: artists, editors, programmers, engineers, mathematicians, architects, web and print graphic designers, and CG animators. They attempt to achieve a balance between technology, art, commerce and creativity, working within a broad creative range that encompasses animation, sound, performance, the Internet, fashion, design and even medical science.
An even higher superlative of technological sophistication is found in their 12-panel digital screen installation Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 (2012). Like a parchment opening, the panels suggest a comprehensive narrative, yet there is no discernible logic of a unilateral direction of perception, be it horizontal or vertical. Each panel conveys a short chapter from what appears to be a tale of legends: dragons, samurais and beautiful mountains. Outlines and forms crumble, turning into digital grids, gold leafing assembling itself into a succession of subsequent scenes.
Traditional Japanese painting motifs in dazzlingly high-definition digital are animated, the loop clocking in just shy of two minutes. Despite the short runtime and lack of an apparent narrative, the immersive display never fails to capture an audience. Such were the reasons behind teamLab’s presentation garnering such praise at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2013, the inaugural edition following the Swiss exhibition’s acquisition of a majority stake in the Hong Kong fair.
Peace Can Be Realized Even Without Order (2013) is an interactive digital installation composed of holographic numbers. As the self-evident title states, the presentation tells the story of how despite disorder caused by external events, peace is gradually restored with time. Existing independently from the others surrounding it, holographic figures play instruments and dance, affected by the sounds coming from neighboring holograms. When a visitor steps across the threshold of the installation, the holographic figures respond by pausing their performance. As the first figure stills, the signal to ‘cease’ is relayed and spread to each other figure. After the visitor passes through the installation, the holographic figures return to playing music and dancing. It is the visitor’s entrance that causes the disruption of harmony. teamLab stated that “…the speed at which people can connect with other people has accelerated, and the influence of connections to other people has become more important…and perhaps in these unordered connections there is a way to find peace.”
Homogenizing and Transforming World is another installation in the same vein. Individual balls floating in space communicate wirelessly with each other. They change color and emit different sounds when touched by visitors or bumped by other objects. The first affected ball sends the new color information to others around it, the spread broadening until all the balls are once again the same color. We now live in a world that has ubiquitous connectivity to the Internet. Each individual is connected to other associates, and information is freely exchanged through that connection. Any single person becomes a voluntary information corridor, sending out new data that ultimately unifies the world. That world, created almost by an instantaneous transference, is what the installation by teamLab addresses.
Verification of Logic through Technique
teamLab’s interests reach beyond humanity, to nature and the great outdoors, and into outer space. Universe of Water Particles Under Satellite’s Gravity (2014) is an installation composed of a giant model of the ALOS-2 satellite, and a virtual representation of the satellite in digital space, meticulously recreated down to its gravitational mass. To prepare the installation, the group first created a simulation of absolute zero gravity and threw in an abundant supply of water. The algorithm they developed based on the simulation calculates the gravitational pull of the satellite and computes its effect on liquid, demonstrating how water would cascade toward the ALOS-2. The results are projected onto the physical model, the computer-generated water molecules interacting dynamically according to the preprogrammed algorithm. Once a particle strikes the surface of the satellite, it bounces off and orbits until it evaporates. Only 0.1% of the water particles from the actual simulation are selected and rendered, with lines drawn between the particles and satellite to delineate the paths of movement. The breathtaking waterfall is the culmination of those rendered lines. The creators compare the waterfall effect to traditional Japanese painting methods and an understanding of space as a curvilinear series of lines. The most recent aesthetic interest of teamLab is evident in Flowers and People – Dark (2015), which is neither a pre-recorded animation nor on loop, but a real-time rendering by a computer program.
Flowers grow, bud and blossom, bursting forth in full before withering and wilting away. It is a perpetual cycle of growth and decay. The installation responds to the proximity of visitors, physical interactions prompting flowers to suddenly wilt, or at times blossom with ever more colorful tones. Each person’s action directly results in in a succession of changes in the installation. Inspired by the premise that nature cannot be controlled, teamLab created a work that asks philosophical questions about what constitutes manmade behaviors in nature, and what those behaviors might say about our future. A rather cynical perspective might place teamLab’s combination of kitsch, legend and technology into the territory of Orientalism, because of the considerable temptation to hang the burden of reworking Americana or to glaze over their imagined future dystopias and epic pasts in tasteful techno-glitter. Whether cynical or indulgent, it is clear that the group has the ability to create unique art through the peaks and valleys of technology, further expanding that unknown world of possibility. Through their particular approach in their installations, teamLab reestablishes a connection to a world most visitors have lost and seek unpredictable “interactions” through perfected technologies. teamLab installations perceive art through the clear lens of Hayashi’s triangle, and for that, have been brought into the spotlight. ■ with ARTINPOST
About teamLab
The Japanese digital artist collective teamLab has made a huge splash in Asia, Europe and the United States. Their work explores new values that govern individual behaviors in the information era, while also revealing possible futures for societal development. The audience is led to explore the extremes of creativity as technology and art are combined and brought into play. teamLab fosters a collective ingenuity and reveals diverse possibilities for a new era of artistic development. The multidisciplinary group has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in Asia and abroad. In 2011, teamLab presented LIVE! at Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Taipei. Solo exhibitions include “teamLab: We are the Future” in 2012 at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, “Taichung; and teamLab and Saga Merry-go-round Exhibition” in 2014 at the Saga Prefectural Art Museum in Japan, “The Experience Machine” in 2012 at the Ikkan Art Gallery in Singapore, and “Ultra Subjective Space” in 2014 at Pace Gallery, New York.
designboomに、掲載。Jul 30, 2014
seven digital experiences by teamlab surround viewers at pace gallery image courtesy of pace gallery
teamlab: ultra subjective space
pace gallery, new york
now through august 15, 2014
for their first-ever exhibition in the united states, tokyo-based teamlab presents ‘ultra subjective space‘, a display of 7 immersive digital works at page gallery, new york. as a fusion of technology and art, the experiential atmosphere surrounds visitors on large-scale screens, projecting looped videos which investigate perspective, time and the distortion of space.
for ‘cold life’, a calligraphic series of brushstrokes are modeled in a virtual 3D space, metamorphosing the japanese character ‘生’ (meaning ‘life’) into a tree. as time passes, various forms begin to grow from within the organic typologies. in computer graphics, similarly in this digital work, wireframe models with high levels of data are rendered into 3D objects. when the facades of these computer-generated images are peeled away, their mesh-like structures are revealed underneath. teamlab exemplifies rendering in its ‘stripped-down’ state while maintaining a complex and elaborate construction. projected in four times the resolution of full high definition, the technology allows for the communication of extremely intricate detail inherent in the work.
in ‘crows are chased and the chasing crows are destined to be chased as well, division in perspective – light in dark’, the japanese mythical bird yatagarasu is rendered in light, flying around the space and leaving trails of color in its wake. the digital artwork uses the ‘itano circus’ technique pioneered by japanese animation, created by ichiro itano. the screen is packed with swarms of missiles that are drawn in a completely incorrect perspective, distorted so that the audience will feel a stronger sense of dynamic movement and impact. through ultra-high-speed camerawork, this approach creates an overwhelmingly beautiful image around the viewer.
‘flower and corpse glitch set of 12′ consists of 12 film stories based on the themes of: civilization and nature, collision, circulation, symbiosis. the surface of flower and corpse glitch falls away to reveal the hidden underside of the animation.
the image of ‘ever blossoming life – dark’ and ‘ever blossoming life – gold’ and created and drawn in real time by a computer program. the images are not pre-recorded nor are played back. flowers grow and blossom within the space, before withering away and disappearing. the cycle of birth and death repeats itself, continuing for eternity and never duplicating the previous states they were in. the artwork is created in two versions: one with gold background and another with dark background. each version is issued in an edition of 10 plus 2 a.p.s.
‘universe of water particles’ is set within a computer-simulated environment: a virtual rock is sculpted and hundreds of thousands of digital water particles are poured onto it. the screen calculates the movement of these particles to produce an accurate waterfall simulation that flows in accordance to physical laws. next, 0.1 percent of the particles are selected and lines are drawn in relation to them. the sinuousness of the lines depends on the overall interaction among the water particles, forming a cascade on screen.