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Ever Blossoming Life – Dark

teamLab, 2014, Digital Work, Endless
メイン画像

Ever Blossoming Life – Dark

teamLab, 2014, Digital Work, Endless
The images that make up this digital artwork are being created and drawn in real time by a computer program. The images are not prerecorded nor played back.

Flowers grow and blossom in profusion before the petals begin to wither and the flowers die and fade away. The cycle of birth and death repeats itself, continuing for eternity, and previous states are never duplicated. The image shown now cannot be viewed again.

CONCEPT

Ultrasubjective Space
Images for media

RELATED EXHIBITIONS

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Melbourne Art Fair 2025

2025.2.20(Thu) - 2.23(Sun)

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne

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Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamLab

2014.10.10(Fri) - 2015.1.11(Sun)

Japan Society, New York

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We Love Video This Summer

2014.7.26(Sat) - 9.05(Fri)

Pace Beijing, Beijing

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Verscheen in Public Art Monthly art magazine op Mar 9, 2015

ART & TECHNOLOGY #4: teamLab

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.

Verscheen in ニューヨークで鑑賞する新しい日本美術。「異形の楽園」展。 op Oct 29, 2014

ニューヨークで鑑賞する新しい日本美術。「異形の楽園」展。

同時代に生きるアーティストの作品を鑑賞することは、自分の生きている世界について新たな視点を与えてくれることのような気がします。日本美術というカテゴリーは、そのテーマやモチーフ、歴史背景などから日本人であっても、逆に馴染みが薄い人も多いかもしれません。今月ニューヨークのジャパン・ソサエティーで始まった展覧会は日本美術に対する既成概念をいい意味で覆してくれました。今回の企画「異形の楽園:池田学、天明屋尚、チームラボ」は1960年代後半以降に生まれたアーティストたちの作品を展示しています。ギャラリー館長の手塚美和子氏によれば「この3作家は、ペン、ペイント、さらにはソフトウェア等、それぞれが違うツールを使いながら、自分達の良さを最大限に引き出し、見るものを異次元の幻想的な世界へと導きます」と説明しています。展覧会場はまず、池田学が製作した12点の作品に迎えられます。入口で配布された虫眼鏡で拡大して見なくてはならないほどに細密に描かれた作品の数々。ハイライトは2008年に製作された「予兆」という作品です。4枚のパネルによって構成された大きな波をモチーフとしたもので、高層ビルや車、人などを巻きみながらうねりをあげるその様子は3.11の大津波を連想させる、というので震災後は展示が自粛されていたとか。今回は日本国外での初公開、さらに震災後初の一般公開となるそうです。1点を完成させるまでには何年もの時間を要するそうで、全体の下絵を描いてから仕上げるのでなく、一部分ずつ描き込みながら、パーツを広げていくという方法をとっているのだそうです。次のルームはチームラボによる展示です。彼らは2001年に設立されたグループで、日本のスティーブ・ジョブスとも称される猪子寿之のもと、アーティストやプログラムエンジニア、建築家、数学者、アニメーターなど多彩なクリエーター300人以上による大所帯です。日本の古典美術をテーマにしたデジタルアートを製作し、最近ではニューヨークのペースギャラリーでも展覧会を開催しました。今回は江戸時代の奇想画家として知られる伊藤若冲による「鳥獣花木図屏風」をリソースとした大きなモニターの作品などを展示しています。8枚のパネルにはカラフルな花園に象や鳥など動物たちが映っており、鑑賞者が近づくと画面が反応する、というインタラクティブな作品となっています。ほか、今回の展覧会のために製作された「Flowers and People―Gold and Dark」という作品は部屋全体にフローラルパターンが投影されており、壁や床に触れることによって開花したり、散ったりといった植物の一生と対話できるような作品となっています。そして展覧会最後は天明屋尚による初の大型インスタレーション「韻」が設置されています。レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチやミケランジェロなどルネッサンス時代の巨匠たちが描いたバトルシーンにも影響を受けたというこの作品は1対になった2枚の絵と、真っ赤な砂による枯山水の庭で構成されています。ミラーイメージのように反転した状態の絵は、実はどちらかがコピー(デジタルプリント)。鑑賞者の目利きぶりを試される、かのような作品でもあります。アーティストいわく現代の“和魂洋才”的手法によって製作されたこの作品、全員全く同じ風貌の兵士たちはふんどし姿に艶やかな黒髪に滑らかな肌が特徴。ある意味で肉体のリアリティがなく、フィギュアが描かれているようにも感じました。制作方法もメディアも、そしてコンセプトも、ほんとうに三種三様の作品。でもどれも日本美術の“現在”、そして私たちの住む世界の今を象徴しているといっていいでしょう。ニューヨークで鑑賞する新しい日本美術。今、お薦めの展覧会です。Garden of Unearthy Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamLab
異形の楽園:池田学、天明屋尚、チームラボ (2015年1月11日まで)
Japan Society / 333 East 47th St. New York
Tel: 212-832-1155
www.japansociety.org

Verscheen in J-COLLABO.ORG op Oct 11, 2014

TOSHIYUKI INOKO

– What is the concept and highlights of the current exhibition at Japan Society in New York?

Inoko:
This time, we have exhibited three pieces, two of which are interactive works.

“United, Fragmented, Repeated and Impermanent World” was created based on an artwork by Ito Jakuchu, an Edo-period painter. It is an interactive digital art piece since it gradually changes in response to viewers’ gestures.

There is also a space that showcases “Flowers and People – Gold and Dark” that has the function to make flowers fall when you touch them and to keep the flowers blooming when you remain a certain distance from them. Flowers bloom and die naturally without any interruption by humans. But in this art piece, the lives of flowers become shorter when you touch them and more flowers bloom if you stay away from them.

These kinds of interactive artworks are affected by viewers’ behaviors and they become complete art pieces by including viewers rather than having them as observers.

– Please tell us about team members of the project as well as the process from the design to the completion of your artwork.

Inoko:
“Life survives by the power of life” is created by a 3D CG animation team. First of all, we created a three-dimensional space on a computer and drew flowers and calligraphic brush strokes for the art piece in that space. Then, we transformed the drawings into animations using our theory of a logical structure of space called “Ultra Subjective Space.”

For “United, Fragmented, Repeated and Impermanent World,” we drew motifs inspired from Ito Jakuchu’s painting and then our CG team made three-dimensional objects of the drawings, which were then animated in a three dimensional space. The video was edited by computer to make tiles that make the mural change into abstract pixels when viewers face the tiles. The team for the project was made up of artists, a group of people for 3D animation, and engineers for the sensors.

I don’t envision the completed final versions of our artworks from the beginning. They are created through trial and error and we continually make improvements to our art pieces.

– What made you establish teamLab?

Inoko:
The main purpose of launching teamLab is to fulfill my personal interest. Not by myself, but with people with various specialties enabling us to experiment with a lot of new things. I wanted to offer a place where we can create and learn something new through experimentation. That’s why my company’s name includes the word “Lab.”

Right before going to college, the Internet came out and I recognized the coming of a new digital society, which led me to have an interest in creating something new in that new society. I was especially interested in changing people’s sense of value by innovation through technology and the arts.

However, the technological innovation had already been made by talented people in Silicon Valley – at such a spectacular level that I couldn’t compete with it. Therefore, I decided to focus on expanding the definition of art using digital technology and changing people’s minds by art, both of which hadn’t been done in Silicon Valley.

– Which aspects of the arts did you focus on?

Inoko:
Since I was little I have been immersed in computer games and comic books. For me they captured a space in a different way from that of Western perception, such as the space captured by a camera. One day, when I looked at a traditional Japanese art painting, I felt the way that the computer games and comic books are depicted on a flat screen is similar to that of traditional Japanese paintings. Then I started to look at many old Japanese paintings, and felt that old Japanese artists may have had a different spatial logic than that of Western perspective that fixes your view when you flatten a three-dimensional space. In the ideas of physics, which was my major at college, lenses and Western arts are considered to be a logical way to convert a three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional space. However, I thought flat pictures of traditional Japanese arts are a result of a unique Japanese logic to convert a three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional flat screen.

It was at the time when I was about to go to college that the internet rolled out, and I was so interested in the areas of computers, digital, Internet and computer networks that I started to think I wanted to work in that field. Computers enabled me to interpret a three-dimensional world to a two-dimensional space in a variety of ways, so by using the computers I was trying to find out the Japanese spatial logic that is common to the old Japanese arts. Then by using that logic, I started to create Japanese art pieces myself.

– What did you want to represent in your artworks? 

Inoko:
A reason that I started to create the artworks is because I wanted to find out the old Japanese spatial logic that is different from the Western perspective. When you look back at history, after big revolutions new ideas were introduced and completely new societies were established. In that process, things that had been important before the revolutions turned out not to be and vice versa. Therefore, I thought the old Japanese spatial concept was something that was disregarded in the modern society because there were no benefits to us. However, I believe there are some tips for the new society in that idea and I’m interested in finding it out and making things that go on into the future.

When you look for the traditional Japanese spatial logic, a common approach would be to read through old documents as historians do, but in my case I created simulations using a computer since my background is in physics. In the beginning, I had no idea about how the benefits from the traditional Japanese perspective go along with this new society and I started to find it out through a process of making my own artworks. So I kept making art pieces without thinking of places to showcase them.

– What are characteristics of teamLab’s artworks?

SERIES

  • Ever Blossoming Life II – A Whole Year per Hour, Dark
  • Ever Blossoming Life – Gold
  • Ever Blossoming Life II - A Whole Year per Year, Gold
  • Ever Blossoming Life II - A Whole Year per Year, Dark
  • Ever Blossoming Life II - A Whole Year per Hour, Gold
  • Ever Blossoming Life Waterfall - Deep in the Mountains of Shikoku
  • Ever Blossoming Life Rock Wall - Mt. Shiun
  • Ever Blossoming Life Tree - Fallen Jiro Cedar
  • Ever Blossoming Life Tree - Giant Taro Cedar
  • Ever Blossoming Life Rock
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