Animal Kingdom | teamLab

Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800) was an early modern Japanese painter who was active in Kyoto in the mid-Edo period. Jakuchū has left us with a unique style of painting in which the surface is made up of a grid of tens of thousands of squares that are individually colored. Nirvana was inspired by the screen paintings Birds, Animals, and Flowering Plants and Trees, Flowers, Birds and Animals.

Jakuchū’s square paintings remind us of computer-generated pixel art. It has been proposed that Jakuchū’s squares pictures were inspired by industrial production constraints in the designs of Nishijin (traditional high-quality silk fabric that is woven in Nishijin, Kyoto). Pixel art was also born from functional limitations. Those functional limitations no longer exist but pixel art is still a very popular form of expression. This is perhaps why we feel an intuitive digital sense to Jakuchū's square works. The colors of Jakuchū’s work are the result of the optical phenomena of visual mixing of color combinations within the squares. It appears as if Jakuchū understood optical mixing of colors at a time before Impressionism and Pointillism.

This artwork was created in a virtual 3-D space in which 3-D animals move. The space was then converted into what teamLab calls ultrasubjective space. Then,  the color in the 3-D space is split by the color pattern of the squares. For example, if the pattern of a square is colored in red and blue, that part corresponds to purple in the three dimensional space.

The squares of the screen are fixed while the space continues to move, and thus the color inside the squares is on a different time axis to the space. Seen as a whole from a distance, brilliantly shining  colors occur, and the world of plants and animals in the space will move at a slow time axis. When viewed up close, the colors divided by the finely drawn patterns of each square will change on a rapid time axis. Two time axes co-exist in this work.

In addition, parts of the image squares are filled in with the most frequent color in the squares, forming an abstract world. The plants and animals move in space, but are abstracted by the fixed squares on-screen, creating a new visual expression through pixel art.

Created from 12 screens, this illustrated story features a theme of "the clash, cycle, and symbiosis between nature and culture.

The world of the artwork is created in three-dimensional space on the computer, visualizing a ultrasubjective space within 12 perspectives. The surface peels away, and the other side of the work rises to the surface.

Three-dimensional shapes are represented by a computer as abstract, higher-order information described by a mesh construction. When the surfaces of those three-dimensional rendered objects are peeled away, it is apparent that they are created from various combinations of mesh structures. By peeling away the surface, the underside of the work is revealed allowing a glimpse into the creative process behind it.

1: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Capital City & Noble
The capital city in all its wondrous glory.

2: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Disaster & Prosperity
An evil disease spreads throughout the capital.

3: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Mountain People & Festival
Hikaru Genji follows the disease and ends up in a mountain village. To celebrate the blessings of nature, the village holds a festival.

4: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Daily Life & Forest
The village festival is over and the village returns to ordinary life. Even under the influence of the disease, the people bravely live on. They receive the benefits of nature, living in abundance and cutting down trees to develop their civilization.

5: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 The Spirit Tree & Yamata no Orochi
The mountain village is asked to provide large amounts of timber to further develop the city. The villagers cut down a large tree deep within the mountains. When the sacred tree is downed, suddenly, Yamata no Orochi appears from the fallen tree. Yamata no Orochi is furious with rage and causes heavy rain and flooding in the valley.

6: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Yamata no Orochi & The Gods of the Forest
Yamata no Orochi knocks down the houses of the mountain village. Following the rampage of Yamata no Orochi, the gods of the forest appear and begin to attack the people.

7: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Weapons & Battlefield
The mountain villagers ask samurai to come to the mountain village, and a battle between the warriors, the gods of the forest, and Yamata no Orochi begins.

8: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Destruction & Victory
After a fierce battle, the warriors make use of the developments of civilization, such as flaming arrows and swords. Eventually the samurai warriors begin to be victorious.

9: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Hunger & Wasteland
After the battle, the burned-out forest is a wasteland. The benefits of nature are lost and the mountain village suffers hunger and despair.

10: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Flower & Corpse
Hikaru Genji is surrounded by the dead bodies of the gods of the forest and Yamata no Orochi. Despairing, he spreads seeds over the corpse of Yamata no Orochi. Then, from the dead corpse, buds appear and numerous flowers bloom. The flowers grow over the trees and the forest is gradually restored.

11: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 Festival & Forest
The people of the mountain begin once again to reap the benefits of the forest and civilization is restored. The people of the village are determined to go on and live in harmony with the forest and the festival is once again held.

12: Flower and Corpse Glitch Set of 12 City & Festival
The evil disease subsides in the capital city. The people still do not know the cause of the disease, but they carry out a festival of thanks at this auspicious change of fortune.