A Musical Wall where Little People Live

teamLab, 2017-, Interactive Digital Installation, Sound: teamLab

A Musical Wall where Little People Live

teamLab, 2017-, Interactive Digital Installation, Sound: teamLab

This is a musical wall where little people live.

When stamps of various shapes such as mushrooms, sheep barns, or long sticks of ice are attached to the wall, these objects appear in the world of the little people. The little people notice these and start jumping onto them.

Depending on the stamp, the little people will slide, jump, or climb on top of them. If the stamp is removed, the stamp in the world of the little people will remain for a moment longer before disappearing.

Attach various stamps to the wall, and the little people will play with delight.

Seeds with smiley faces come falling down from above. When the seeds hit the stamps, various notes in different pitches play depending on the type and position of the stamp they hit, eventually creating music.

Background of Artwork

The Three Laws of Mechanics

The movement of things in this world can be explained based upon three laws.

The law of inertia

As long as a separate external force is not exerted upon something, it will remain as it is.

For example, if you are on a stationary train and it suddenly starts to move, you try to remain stationary, so you are pulled backwards in relation to the direction in which the train is moving. If a moving train stops suddenly, you try to keep moving in the direction in which the train was moving, so you are pulled in the direction in which the train was moving.

The law of motion

When a separate external force is exerted upon something, it starts to move in the direction of that new force. The amount of movement changes depending on the strength of the force applied and the weight of the thing. For example, strong force is necessary to push and try to move something heavy. If you try to bounce a heavy ball and a light ball, the light ball will bounce back more quickly even with the same amount of force.

The law of action and reaction

When force is exerted upon something, the same amount of force is always returned in the opposite direction. For example, if you push a wall, the same amount of force as you exerted when you pushed it is returned by the wall.

How to interact with the artwork

1
The little people run around inside the wall.
2
Attach stamps of various shapes such as mushrooms, sheep barns, long sticks of ice to the walls, and the little people will bounce, climb, or slide depending on the type of stamp.
3
When seeds with smiley faces fall down from above and hit the various objects attached to the wall, different notes will play.