People Don’t See the World as through a Camera
teamLab, 2024
The words "teamLab Borderless" rise towards the forefront of the entrance space when they are viewed through a camera from a designated position. However, when they are viewed directly with the naked eye from the same position, the letters do not emerge to the front. People do not see the world as through a lens.
teamLab is interested in the fact that although the world is continuous and without boundaries, it is cognitively separated, and especially when viewed through a lens, the world in which one's body is located is separated from the world one is seeing.
Around 2001 when teamLab was founded, we began to think of lenses and perspective as one of the logical methodologies to turn a space into two dimensions, and began to search for a logic for the flattening of space that was different from that of lenses and perspective. We wanted to know how humans perceive the world and the ways in which perception and the body are related.
When the world is seen and captured through a lens:
1. The surface that the world is displayed on becomes a boundary, and the space cut out by the lens appears on the other side of that boundary. Between the world where the physical body is and the world that is being seen, a boundary is formed, and of course, it is cognitively unnatural to touch objects in the image.
2. The viewpoint is fixed, and subconsciously, people lose sense of their body.
3. In actuality, the field of view of humans is wide, and the viewpoint and focus move around a lot, but the world captured by a lens fixes the focus to one point, narrowing the field of view, and leading to a loss of sense of intention.
A logical methodology for the flattening of space that unlike a lens, the screen does not become a cognitive boundary, differs in that:
1. The physical body and the world that is cut out is continuous with each other;
where people can touch any part of the image.
2. People can perceive the world around them physically, and look at the image as they walk around because their focus can move around freely.
3. Each person can come near any part of the image.
4. People do not lose their sense of intention because the focus is infinite and the field of view is wide.
Searching for this kind of logical methodology for the flattening of space was the initial exploration of teamLab. We constructed a logical structure to turn an image into two dimensions, and called that flattened space Ultrasubjective Space.
Flowers are Crimson was one of the first artworks created in 2004-5 through Ultrasubjective Space, and here at teamLab Borderless, it appears as a remade form of that initial work through Walk, Walk, Walk: Search, Deviate, Reunite. Constructing a logical structure is very important to us, and the artwork spaces that are flatted through it hold a time of their own, express dynamic changes, and allow us to draw images that transform through the presence of people.
teamLab wants to create a physical, spatial art that expands infinitely, where people walk around with intention; a physical art that becomes one with the body, changes through the presence of people; where the artwork world is continuous with the body.
That - is the foundation of teamLab Borderless.
teamLab is interested in the fact that although the world is continuous and without boundaries, it is cognitively separated, and especially when viewed through a lens, the world in which one's body is located is separated from the world one is seeing.
Around 2001 when teamLab was founded, we began to think of lenses and perspective as one of the logical methodologies to turn a space into two dimensions, and began to search for a logic for the flattening of space that was different from that of lenses and perspective. We wanted to know how humans perceive the world and the ways in which perception and the body are related.
When the world is seen and captured through a lens:
1. The surface that the world is displayed on becomes a boundary, and the space cut out by the lens appears on the other side of that boundary. Between the world where the physical body is and the world that is being seen, a boundary is formed, and of course, it is cognitively unnatural to touch objects in the image.
2. The viewpoint is fixed, and subconsciously, people lose sense of their body.
3. In actuality, the field of view of humans is wide, and the viewpoint and focus move around a lot, but the world captured by a lens fixes the focus to one point, narrowing the field of view, and leading to a loss of sense of intention.
A logical methodology for the flattening of space that unlike a lens, the screen does not become a cognitive boundary, differs in that:
1. The physical body and the world that is cut out is continuous with each other;
where people can touch any part of the image.
2. People can perceive the world around them physically, and look at the image as they walk around because their focus can move around freely.
3. Each person can come near any part of the image.
4. People do not lose their sense of intention because the focus is infinite and the field of view is wide.
Searching for this kind of logical methodology for the flattening of space was the initial exploration of teamLab. We constructed a logical structure to turn an image into two dimensions, and called that flattened space Ultrasubjective Space.
Flowers are Crimson was one of the first artworks created in 2004-5 through Ultrasubjective Space, and here at teamLab Borderless, it appears as a remade form of that initial work through Walk, Walk, Walk: Search, Deviate, Reunite. Constructing a logical structure is very important to us, and the artwork spaces that are flatted through it hold a time of their own, express dynamic changes, and allow us to draw images that transform through the presence of people.
teamLab wants to create a physical, spatial art that expands infinitely, where people walk around with intention; a physical art that becomes one with the body, changes through the presence of people; where the artwork world is continuous with the body.
That - is the foundation of teamLab Borderless.