I wasn’t entirely sure that I should go to this art experience in Tokyo, until someone on YouTube changed my mind. She gave more information about one of the founders, Toshiyuki Inoko, and why his view on art inspired her. That had my interest peaked. (ദ്ദി˙ᗜ˙)
The website of the venue has just a small summary, which does not give the full insight to the team behind teamLab.
The following is taken from their wikipedia page.
TeamLab (stylized as teamLab) is an international artist collective created by an interdisciplinary group of artists formed in 2001 in Tokyo, Japan. The group consists of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians and architects who refer to themselves as “ultra-technologists”. TeamLab creates artworks using digital technology.
History
TeamLab was founded in 1998 by Toshiyuki Inoko and Shunsuke Aoki while they were studying at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo. They did so in collaboration with three other friends with engineering backgrounds: Sakai Daisuke, Tamura Tetsuya, and Yoshimura Joe. The interdisciplinary group was officially incorporated when Inoko graduated from the university in March 2001.
TeamLab initially made little profit, but began to grow its reach through the creation of websites and smartphone applications, as well as office and store designs for outside corporations. In 2011, artist Takashi Murakami invited the collective to make its debut at the Singapore Biennale. When they received some success he invited them a second time to his gallery Kaikai Kiki in Taipei later that year, which ended up being their first big break in the artworld. The exhibit was titled “We are The Future” and was featured around artists who focused on art-technology integrations.
In 2014, the New York PACE Gallery began to help promote TeamLab’s work. TeamLab organized its own exhibition in Tokyo in 2015. Since then a variety of other museums have gotten involved with TeamLab in both positive and negative ways. In 2020, TeamLab has sued MODS (Museum of Dream Space) for allegedly imitating its artwork and violating its copyrights. They have been fighting a legal battle for two years.
Technological Art: TeamLab’s Impact
The idea of interactive art has existed as far back as the 1960s, relatively old when discussing modern art. It has recently been rediscovered and explored by technologically based artists[18], sometimes labeled as the Ultratechnologist Group. Some immediate related examples in terms of interactive installations as well as techno-art integration work includes Omega Mart, Other World, Transmediale, and FILE, all of which strive to bring the audience into the art and challenge the traditional gallery space.
TeamLab exhibitions specifically use EPSON digital technology. EPSON works through a series of touch reactive areas, projected images, and pre-coded/animated reactions. In this way, the gallery space’s behavior is dependent on the viewers inside it to function and create cohesive interactive moments.
The popular interpretation of TeamLabs work is that it is intended to show the relationship between nature and artificial creations, immersing the recipient’s body in an interactive world.
As there are two exhibitions in Tokyo, I have deviced to visit the Planets one as it conclude in 2027. If I find time in my itinerary, I might go to Borderless too.
teamLab Planets TOKYO DMM.com in Shin-Toyosu, Tokyo, was opened to the public on the 7th July, 2018 and has an exhibition period until the end of 2027. It comprises four large-scale artwork spaces and two gardens. People go barefoot, both as a means to allow the viewer to ‘immerse their entire bodies in the vast artworks’ and because there are artworks in which the viewer enters the water.
Because the water can go up to the knees, I will be bringing some shorts while the venue does provide free rental for shorts up to size 6L. ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡
This is going to be an exciting art experience.
Fair warning: please buy the tickets through their own website. I see tickets being offered through third party but they are not accepted by the venue as they are reserved on name.
I’ve seen people say they have been refused entry with third party tickets. The official website is not complex at all.
