teamLab Biovortex Kyoto | teamLab

This floating, immense sculpture emerges from a sea of bubbles, transcending the very concept of mass. It neither sinks to the ground nor rises completely to the ceiling, but instead drifts in the middle of the space. The contours of its existence are ambiguous—it fragments into smaller pieces, but merges into a larger mass. Even when people fully immerse themselves in this sculpture, its existence remains intact. If broken by people, it naturally restores itself. However, when the sculpture is destroyed beyond what it can repair, it collapses, unable to recover. Even if people try to move or push this floating sculpture, they cannot do so, and if they stir up wind, the sculpture disperses entirely. Physical human actions cannot move the sculpture.
Objects such as stones and man-made creations maintain a stable structure on their own. A stone will continue to exist even if placed in a sealed box, isolated from the external world.On the other hand, a vortex created in the ocean disappears instantly when transferred into an enclosed box. In other words, a vortex does not maintain a stable structure independently. A vortex exists within the flow created by its environment formed by water continuously flowing from the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside, maintained by the vortex’s ordered structure. This flow allows the vortex to shift as the surrounding currents change. Its boundaries are ambiguous. There is no material distinction between the vortex and its surroundings as they are made of water.
Rather than a solid object, this sculpture is created by the order of energy generated by the phenomena of a unique environment.  Let us call this existence created by the order of energy, a "Higher Order Sculpture." The artwork is inseparable from the environment and changes along with the environment. It transcends the conventional notions of physical objects—it sustains its existence mid-air, having ambiguous boundaries, and it is able to maintain its shape even when people immerse themselves physically into the sculpture, naturally restoring itself even if the sculpture breaks.
The only material substances present in this space are water, air, and ordinary soap.By filling the space with bubbles, a distinct environment is created in which an order of energy is born. By doing so, a massive form emerges from this sea of bubbles that floats steadily in mid-air.
In modern biology, the definition of life cannot be strictly defined, but everything that is structured upon cells, capable of metabolism, and self-reproduction are labeled living things for convenience. In other words, all living things are composed of cells. All cells are enclosed by a cell membrane constructed of a lipid bilayer, with the hydrophilic part facing outward and the hydrophobic part covered within the layers. Both the inside and outside of the enveloping membrane are liquid. Soap bubbles are similarly enveloped by lipid bilayer membranes, and these membranes are structurally identical to cell membranes. However, contrary to cells, the bilayer of the bubble membrane floats in and encloses air, so the hydrophobic part faces outward, while the hydrophilic part is covered within the layers. In other words, if we consider cells to be pouch-shaped membranes in liquid, then bubbles are pouch-shaped membranes in air. This sculpture is created from substances composed in the same ways as cells, the structuring units of life-forms, and the order of energy created from this environment.
The same is true of life. It consumes external matter and energy as food and discharges it, sustaining its ordered structure as the energy dissipates. Life exists within the flow of matter and energy, and its contour, like a vortex, is ambiguous.Perhaps, life is a miraculous phenomenon that emerges in the flow of matter and energy, and its structure is the order of energy created by that flow.

Countless spheres of light and spheres of darkness.
Each sphere of light can be clearly perceived in the space as a mass seemingly made of solidified light, however, there is no material surface boundary. The perception of the boundary between the artwork and your body is ambiguous.When you broaden your vision, purple-blue spheres made of darkness also begin to appear, as though darkness has been solidified.
If you try to touch a sphere of light, the sphere shines brightly and the surrounding spheres respond one after the other.Light does not solidify, and masses made entirely of light do not exist in the universe. In other words, these spheres of light only exist in your perception.The artwork cannot exist on its own - its existence is a phenomenon created by its environment.The work questions the notion of existence and what it means.

The movement of hundreds of thousands of birds is beautiful and mysterious, like a single, giant life form.
Even if each individual element is separated in space and time, when there is order among them, the individual elements may be recognized as a single entity that transcends space and time. Despite significant changes in shape or size on the surface, or even if the elements are replaced, this single existence will be maintained, and be recognized as the same entity. This spatiotemporal existence differs from physical matter, and will open up new possibilities of existence. This artwork portrays this spatiotemporal existence.

人們的自由走動與燈具互動而創造出來的，光之連續性的作品。
當人駐足時，最接近的燈具會發出強烈的光芒，並且燈光會從這盞燈具開始，延續到距離最近的燈具。然後，這束光會與由他人所創造出來的光交彙。
空間中看似隨機配置的燈具，其實是經由數學公式所導出的。無論從哪一盞燈具開始，持續向最接近的燈具延伸時，便會形成一條連接所有燈具、並只通過每盞燈具一次，如同“一筆畫”（unicursal）般的光之軌跡。
與人產生呼應的燈光，總是會連接到與其最接近的燈具，並在只穿過所有燈具一次的前提下，傳播給空間裡所有的燈具。
本作品旨在探索由人們的存在所創造的，光的連續性本身的美感。