Run the Code: Data-Driven Art Decoded by Thoma Foundation x Blanton Museum of Art | teamLab

Run the Code: Data-Driven Art Decoded by Thoma Foundation x Blanton Museum of Art

2026.3.08(Sun) - 8.02(Sun)Blanton Museum of Art, Austin

Group Exhibition

Run the Code: Data-Driven Art Decoded by Thoma Foundation x Blanton Museum of Art

2026.3.08(Sun) - 8.02(Sun)Blanton Museum of Art, Austin

Group Exhibition

作品

The World of Irreversible Change

This work is both somewhere in time and here and now.

The world of the artwork changes with the real time of its location. Morning arrives in the artwork with the sunrise in the real world, and when the sun sets, evening begins. If it rains in the real world of the work’s location, it rains in the world of the artwork, and the flora that grow in the artwork change every day with each passing season.
The people’s lives also change continuously depending on the time of day and weather of the real world, and the festivals and events that are celebrated change with the seasons. Various stories take place every day, and the lives of people continue eternally.

The actions of viewers influence the world of the artwork. The people in the artwork respond when a viewer touches them, but if the interaction is limited, they return to their daily lives.
If the interaction is continuous, however, fights break out amongst the people in the artwork that are near to each other, leading to deaths. The fighting spreads throughout the city, which becomes engulfed in flames that last for over a year. As the city burns to the ground, the people in the artwork eventually die out.

In the ruined city where not a single person remains, the seasons still pass and the sun rises and sets with the time of the real world. After a few months, new flora begin to grow in the burnt ruins of the city.
The flora grow, bloom, and scatter repeatedly, changing daily with the real passage of time. The flowers and plants grow deeply over the course of a long period, and the flowers change throughout every year, continuing in perpetuity.

Once the world of this artwork begins to burn, the world from before can never be returned to.
The people who interact with the artwork cause this outcome.

關於 teamLab

teamLab是自2001年起開始活動的藝術團隊。通過團隊創作來探索藝術、科學、技術和自然界交匯點的國際性跨域藝術團隊。由藝術家、程式設計師、工程師、CG動畫師、數學家和建築師等各個領域的專家組成。

teamLab想通過藝術，摸索人與世界的關係和新的認知。人類爲了更好地認知世界，習慣性地把世界分割，並將其視爲具有邊界的事物。我們探索認知的邊界，並試圖超越人類對世界、對時間連續性的邊界的認知。世間萬物都是奇跡般地存在於積年累月且沒有邊界的連續性上的。

teamLab在紐約、倫敦、巴黎、新加坡、矽谷、北京、墨爾本等世界各地舉辦了藝術展。teamLab所開設的大型常設美術館有位於東京台場的「teamLab Borderless」、位於東京豐洲的「teamLab Planets」、位於上海黃浦濱江的「teamLab 無界上海」、位於澳門的「澳門 teamLab 超自然空間」，位於北京的「teamLab無相藝術空間」等等。今後還將有更多的美術館落地在漢堡、烏得勒支、吉達等地。

teamLab的作品被世界各大藝術機構收藏，如墨爾本維多利亞國家美術館（墨爾本）、悉尼新南威爾士州美術館（悉尼）、阿德萊德南澳大利亞藝術畫廊（阿德萊德）、赫爾辛基阿莫斯·雷克斯美術館（赫爾辛基）、舊金山亞洲藝術博物館（舊金山）、洛杉磯現代美術館（洛杉磯）、伊斯坦堡Borusan當代藝術收藏館（伊斯坦堡）、紐約亞洲協會博物館（紐約）。

teamlab.art

Biographical Documents

teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery, Martin Browne Contemporary and Ikkan Art.

Exhibition Overview

What happens when code and data become the raw materials of art?

In Run the Code, contemporary artists harness algorithms and generative AI models to create powerful, thought-provoking works that explore nature, art history, internet culture, and human behavior. Showcasing highlights from the Thoma Foundation’s Digital and Media Art Collection, this immersive exhibition transforms digital information into sensory works of art.

Included are some of the most important digital and generative artists working today: Refik Anadol, Daniel Canogar, Jenny Holzer, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, teamLab, Siebren Versteeg, Leo Villareal, and Marina Zurkow, among others.

Some create interactive systems that respond to your movement, touch, or presence — inviting you to become part of the artwork. Others design custom software that generates ever-evolving images right before your eyes. Digital landscapes reflect on our relationship with the natural world, while other works remix historical paintings and cultural archives through machine processes. Together, these artworks demonstrate that algorithms can be more than technical tools — they can also serve as a creative medium.

Though grounded in advanced technology, these artworks are deeply human, raising important questions for the digital age: What does it mean to create art in a world shaped by data? And how might it help us reimagine our relationship to the information that surrounds us? From interactive installations to complex systems running behind the scenes, Run the Code brings together art and technology in exciting, unexpected ways.

Organized by Hannah Klemm, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art