[I’m anxious to visit teamLab’s new Shanghai immersive digital art museum or the popular one in Tokyo. This short story from Forbes provides some details (and the original includes two more pictures) but to understand the immersive experience the collective offers, see some the many pictures in new as well as older coverage by designboom, the teamLab website and YouTube channel, and an interview with the founder from SmartShanghai. –Matthew]
[Image: Wander through the Crystal World, teamLab, 2018, Interactive Installation of Light Sculpture, LED, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi. Credit: © TEAMLAB]
TeamLab Is Opening Its Second Immersive Digital Art Museum In Shanghai
October 31, 2019
Christina Liao
Even if you don’t know them by name, you’ve likely seen their work in person or all over Instagram. From a room filled with suspended, color-changing LED strips to an illuminated forest at Singapore Changi Airport’s recently opened Jewel entertainment and retail complex, art collective teamLab is what many other new media creators have tried to imitate. And while they’ve been around since 2001, opening installations in a myriad of public spaces and museums worldwide, it wasn’t until June 2018 that they finally found a permanent home that they could call their own.
Located on Odaiba island in Tokyo, teamLab Borderless became the world’s most-visited single-artist museum last year with 2.3 million guests, and it’s easy to understand why. The photogenic quality of the works has certainly played a significant role in drawing in crowds, but there’s also the awe-inducing aspect that universally appeals to adults and children alike. (Many a celebrity including Chrissy Teigen, Kim Kardashian West, Kanye West, and their respective children have enjoyed time at the venue.) And after its record-setting success, the pioneer of digital art museums is now gearing up for a second location.
Opening on November 5 in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, teamLab Borderless Shanghai will include approximately 50 artworks in a space spanning over 71,000 square feet. The collective’s concept is to “explore a new relationship between humans and nature” through digital technology that knows no boundaries. The pieces are meant to move freely in and out of rooms and at times even interact with one another in addition to the onlooker, creating a unique experience. And now that they’ll have a second museum, teamLab will take the borderless idea a step further through an installation that connects Tokyo and Shanghai, where the computer-generated creations will move between the two spaces simultaneously.
The Shanghai venue will feature many of teamLab’s signature works. Forest of Resonating Lamps, where color-changing lanterns made from Murano glass are suspended in a mirrored room, will be the largest one ever, measuring one and a half times bigger than its counterpart in Tokyo. Wander through the Crystal World, a maze of LED lights dangling from the ceiling set to sounds by musical artist Hideaki Takahashi, will also have its own room. The Shanghai museum will also be home to En Tea House, where you’ll have a truly interactive experience as you drink this particular variety of green tea grown in southern Japan. But there will be a few never-before-seen pieces as well. One that will surely become a new favorite is a large-scale sculpture of moving orbs titled Microcosmoses.
Following its Shanghai opening, teamLab is currently slated to open up a third museum in Macao in January 2020. Housed within the Venetian Macao, one of the region’s famed casino resorts, it’ll occupy a 54,000-square-foot space with 26-foot-high ceilings. While details on the artwork have yet to be released, it’s safe to say that what’s to come will be just as scintillating as everything else we’ve seen thus far from the collective.