When many people picture Japan they think of modernity: robot hotels and steel skyscrapers with big screens on the side, super toilets and high-speed trains—in other words, they picture an industrially developed part of Tokyo. In my blog I’ve noted several times that this “high-tech” view of Japan is actually applicable to just a small part of the country, which can come as a surprise to visitors, but the last few years have seen increased attention to preserving this modern image in the capital. This is partly in response to the announcement that the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held there, as all Olympic hosts desire to present their homeland in the best light possible. When I was in Tokyo last August I was reminded of the technological differences between the “citiest” city and the “countriest” countryside in Japan, but visited two attractions that particularly made me feel as if I had stepped into the future: the digital art museums called teamLab Planets and teamLab Borderless.
teamLab is a Japanese group that describes itself as an “art collective of ultratechnologists,” and its works have piqued international interest not only from art connoisseurs but from the public as well. There are currently 36 permanent teamLab digital art museums and exhibitions scattered across five countries, namely Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia; temporary, upcoming, and previous exhibits, the current count of which is 418, cover another handful of nations worldwide. All of these displays, big or small, are known for exploring the boundaries of art through the use of advanced electronic and computer-programming technology. Many teamLab exhibitions engage the viewer by making the experience participatory while others are entirely dependent on such interaction, with the constantly changing nature of what you see and experience being a feature unique to digital art. Because these works are primarily found in Japan, many tourists from the last few years have made an effort to visit teamLab during their stay in the capital, the most popular location being Borderless, situated on a manmade island in Tokyo Bay. The island, called Odaiba, can boast in being one of the city’s popular tourist destinations with fancy shopping areas, a park, a concert hall, a modern entertainment facility called Palette Town, scenic port, Ferris wheel with beautiful views of the mainland skyline, a large spa, and a connection to the Rainbow Bridge (which, disappointingly, is lit up white every day except holidays). teamLab Planets is also a common stop for tourists, similarly located in Tokyo Bay though on a different island than Borderless. In addition to being smaller than Borderless it is placed in a less-traversed area of the city and is a bit more difficult to reach by public transport, though it still isn’t a hard trip from central Tokyo. While in the area my friend Emily and I visited both Borderless and Planets, as the two were advertised as having vastly different exhibits, and were entertained for hours by the artwork we saw there.
Describing the teamLab experience is a bit like trying to explain the vastness of the universe in a way the human brain can comprehend: good luck, you can’t. The interactivity of both of these museums makes words insufficient in expressing how it feels to be there, and while good art as a whole should evoke that sense of abstract, indescribable wonder, it seems even trickier when there’s a level of participation. To begin, it may be best to give an idea of what each museum aims to convey through it’s art—for Borderless it is a seamless, continuously evolving landscape, for Planets it is a whole-body immersion experience. Borderless is a permanent teamLab space defined by having a sprawling layout and no map, with all the halls and main rooms connected to one another. There isn’t a wall within these areas that aren’t covered in digital artwork, and the art is constantly moving: reentering a room after having left it for a while, the museum says, may reveal an entirely different scene than before. You can see this change happening in real time, following exhibits as they move through the halls or watching as a different theme overtakes the one you were previously looking at. These exhibitions have a level of interaction to them encouraging visitors to touch, play, and live with the art, and while sometimes you’ll see things pass through only briefly, often times they will take up new residences and stay for a while. The result is an entire museum in flux, with only a number of designated areas remaining singularly thematic during your visit.
In contrast, Planets—which is a temporary installment—has very distinct areas designating the place of each exhibit within the museum. There is only one route to follow, rooms deliberately set into their appropriate spot on your journey, and the passages between each work of art are minimally but meaningfully designed to transition you from the headspace of the previous artwork to the one you are about to see. As many hallways are black with only enough light to make the museum safe, this shift is achieved through physical rather than visual media; the floor changes from textured to smooth, hard to soft, flat to inclined, and the presence or lack of sound can help indicate what is to come. The resultant museum is one that feels immersive, as if you’ve stepped into a playground of a lucid dream, and while it is equally interactive as Borderless, Planets feels more like living within the art rather than watching it change it as you go.
While it may not be possible to precisely convey the marvel of each museum, the experience is paradoxically too beautiful to stay quiet about. Each artwork and theme has its own appeal, but a few stand out in my mind as particularly breathtaking, so I’ll attempt to illuminate them through words, pun fully intended.
A quick note on museum attire, for anyone who ever wants to go: mirror floors cover a large amount of both museums, so ladies are advised against wearing skirts. Shorts are available for rent in Planets in case you forget, as some exhibits require your lower garments to be raised above the knee. Tennis shoes are recommended for Borderless, and as you can be active in both museums it’s best to wear comfortable clothing that allows a good range of movement.
P L A N E T S : Toyosu, Tokyo, Japan; Summer 2018 – Fall 2020
The Infinite Crystal Universe
In this exhibit the floor, ceiling, and walls are all made of mirrors, and except for thin, open walkways, the entire room has strings of color-changing LEDs hanging from top to bottom. There are so many of them that it gives the illusion of curtains of light, and with mirrors everywhere they seem to extend into infinity. Muted, abstract music, if it can be called as much, hums in the background, complementing the illusion of never-ending space. The lights change colors to make beautiful patterns from rainbows to falling stars, all of which are enchanting from every angle. Emily and I probably spent the longest in this exhibit out of both museums, taking photos when we weren’t taking in the wonder of it all. (Note: this exhibit is present in both Planets and Borderless, but the Planets version is better of the two; the Borderless version has mirror floors and walls but not a mirror ceiling, and it is smaller. In both the Planets and the Borderless rooms, you can use an app to change the color patterns yourself. It’s a finicky system, but when it works it’s magical.)
Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity
The exhibit that defines Planets, “The Dance of Koi and People” is almost otherworldly to experience in real life. I mentioned before that Planets uses the sense of touch in their hallways to transition visitors from one place to the next, and there may have been some confusion as to how that would be possible with shoes on. Well, it wouldn’t be—you remove your shoes at the beginning of the museum. This exhibit is a wonderful example of why you need to; as you approach you feel the floor start to slope downward, and soon you notice your path is disappearing into a pool of milky water. Attendants, not often seen in Planets, stand along the way with lights, instructing you to roll up pants and pull up skirts until they are pleased with the length. As the floor falls away it’s easy to understand why: the water reaches many peoples’ knees, with some height-related variation, and it fills the entire art space. Colorful, ever-moving flowers and koi are projected on top of the pool in such a way that it looks as if they’re floating and swimming through the room. If you touch a koi it will burst into flowers, but the floral images will freely transfer onto people’s bodies, clothes, and faces if they’re in the way of the light. What’s especially amazing about this artwork is that the movement of the koi and the flowers isn’t a repeating pattern; the artwork moves based on where and how many people are in the water. Advanced motion tracking systems chart where each person is, and the flowers, koi, and music change accordingly. What you see in “Dance of Koi and People” is art that will never be replicated, lest the same amount of people stand in the same places and move in just the same way as you did back then.
Expanding Three-dimensional Existence in Intentionally Transforming Space – Free Floating, Flattening 3 Colors and 9 Blurred Colors
When entering “Intentionally Transforming Space,” there almost seems to be a question as to whether you’ll fit in it. Large inflated spheres, all programmed to change color when they feel physical contact, fill the space, and there is no clear way through them. The spheres are soft to the touch and just slightly bouncy, so as you start to make your way into the room you begin to get the idea that the best way forward is the one you make for yourself. Nothing in the room seems to be fixed; all of the spheres are piled up in just the way the previous visitor moved them so they could go through, with new paths closing and opening as they are shifted by gravity and human influence. Not a space for the claustrophobic, “Intentionally Transforming Space” feels as if you are engulfed in an alien cave—perhaps one that is alive, like dungeon crawling through Jabu-Jabu’s belly for any Zelda fans out there—and every movement you and the other visitors make changes the experience for the next person who walks through the door.
Soft Black Hole – Your Body Becomes a Space that Influences Another Body
“Soft Black Hole” is an entirely tactile experience. The room, barely bright enough to see in, has every surface covered in what might be described as “the quicksand version of beanbags.” Putting pressure onto the walls and floors means you will sink deep into them, and whether walking or sitting the most minute of movements of those around you are amplified through this pillowy medium, making it feel as if everyone is connected. Each motion affects everything in the vicinity so that even in a plush environment that feels welcoming and quiet, visitors are all acutely aware of the community that resides within the space. If there were ever a way to make someone feel both relaxed and alert at once, “Soft Black Hole” has found it.
B O R D E R L E S S : Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan; Summer 2018 –
Universe of Water Particles on a Rock Where People Gather
This exhibit is often used as the face of Borderless advertisements, and for good reason: it’s beautiful. “Water Particles” inhabits one of the largest rooms in the museum, and on one side the floor slants upward in several directions, which makes it look especially convincing as a rock when light is projected onto it. Above the rock a digital waterfall crashes down, its waters flowing in rivulets over the floor, and at least when I arrived, all around beautiful plants and flowers were springing up, creating a natural-looking landscape. This scenery isn’t all for show, however; if you stand in the electronic water for any length of time, you will notice it parts around your feet, carving new paths around the obstacle. Placing a hand into the waterfall will do the same, and the more you touch the walls and the floor the more you discover will bend to the pressure of your hands and feet. The large room also hosts some of the most extreme thematic changes in Borderless, so while the waterfall is the primary exhibit within the room other artwork can often be found along the walls.
Forest of Resonating Lamps
Similar to “The Infinite Crystal Universe,” the floor and ceiling of “Forest of Resonating Lamps” are made of mirrors, giving the impression of infinity within a small space. The lanterns change from cool to warm colors every minute or two and hang at different heights, which paired with the dimness of the lights makes it seem as if they are floating within an unseen river. Looking into the floor you can almost convince yourself that you are standing among hundreds of thousands of stars, fading into nothing as they get farther and farther away. If you approach any of them too closely they will make noise, echoing with the other lamps into a beautiful, relaxing melody. While there is a wait for this exhibition, it’s one that isn’t to be missed within the museum.
Future Park: A Table and Musical Wall Where Little People Live
A whimsical nook tucked into a corner of the second floor, “Where Little People Live” is a fun experiment in using 3D objects to interact with 2D computer programs. The walls are mostly black with blackboard-esque stick figure boys and girls walking around them, and other than built-in bins that hold magnets there is only a large circular table in the center of the room. The magnets can be stuck to any part of the walls and they come in shapes like trees, brick walls, bales of hay, and waterspouts. Placing these magnets into the 2D environment causes two things to happen: one, light is projected onto them in such a way that you know it has been connected into the program of the screen behind, and two, the characters will interact with that magnet if they come across it. If there is something in their way they will build ladders, if water flows they will swim, if they find wood they will make a fire—it feels like watching little children play! Special non-magnetic items, the only one of which I remember is an egg, can be used with the program on the table. Placing the egg down, for example, makes a skillet appear, and in a show of light the egg appears darker and darker, and if you don’t take it off when it’s ready it begins to smoke, finally catching fire before fading away! This was a silly exhibit, but one that we enjoyed playing with.
The Sketch Aquarium
The concept behind “The Sketch Aquarium” is simple: let people make their own sea creatures, then set them free. Long tables with coloring implements are laid out throughout the room, and every visitor is free to pick up a print of a pre-designed animal silhouette and design the remainder of its form to their heart’s content. After completion, the animals are scanned into the aquarium and can be seen swimming through the exhibit. I saw everything in there from cat octopi to Doraemon dolphins—the creativity was amazing!
These are just a glimpse into the many art exhibits in the museums, but having been through both I must confess to having a favorite: Borderless is bigger and more interactive, offering a good deal more entertainment that could take hours and hours to explore…and yet both Emily and I preferred Planets. One of the main features of Borderless is that it doesn’t have a map or a clear guide to the art that resides there, and while that makes for a wonderful adventure we found it made the museum frustrating at times. For the first hour or two we stuck to our resolution of not looking up any of the exhibits, wanting to experience things without any preview, but after wandering around in circles, unable to find three of the five areas of the museum we knew existed, we felt it necessary to search for a full list online so we could seek out the art we really wanted to see before leaving. We were glad we did—when reviewing the exhibits we found we had missed a good third of them, if not more, some of which were the most famous displays in the museum. Our remaining hours were then spent trying to reach those places, as we had bought evening tickets and didn’t have an unlimited amount of time. This Borderless experience went against the free and fluid nature of the museum, but while we understood the art was meant to be exploratory we felt that there was too little guidance and found ourselves lost on several occasions. What’s more, as the whole point of Borderless is to be constantly changing, our confusion was exacerbated by rooms that no longer looked like anything we remembered, and the inescapable patterns and loudly colored designs started to give us a headache after a while. At times the illusion of never-ending art felt shattered by brightly-lit break rooms, awkwardly-placed stairs, and the occasional bathroom, and the “go anywhere, wherever” nature of the museum led to popular exhibits having long lines. All of these things together meant it took us a great deal of effort to find a number of things, including the entire second floor and a popular installment called “Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Floating Space – The Nest”. Even when we left there was an exhibit or two that we hadn’t found, with a few others left unexplored for lack of time. Whether that was our mistake for not being informed on the size of the museum or teamLab’s oversight for selling evening tickets (creating time constraint) without clarification of how the museum worked I can’t say, but it did impact our view of Borderless as a whole.
Planets, though smaller with fewer exhibits and less interaction, felt contrastingly peaceful, and it so completely enveloped us in its “world of art” that it felt bigger and more impactful. Emily and I emerged from the last room feeling like we had been in a daydream, blinking in protest against the sudden harshness of the lobby lights and trying to remember what we were doing before we entered the museum. We had no idea of what time it was and didn’t really care anyway because it felt like only minutes (it was a few hours), and for a while the only thing we could seem to talk about was the art we’d seen. While that relaxed and immersive experience may have been because we didn’t feel as rushed, I think the simplicity and attention to detail within the museum added to our time there. Or perhaps we just prefer a peaceful whole-body experience to more energetic interaction.
Overall, both Borderless and Planets were amazing places to visit. They aren’t cheap and they both require a hefty time commitment if you want to really enjoy and explore, but I doubt many people have ever been to a place quite like the ones teamLab creates. Digital art brings fun and unique elements to liven up the stereotype of dry, boring halls filled with relics in oil and watercolor, and with a wide variety of exhibitions to choose from there’s something for everyone to see. If you ever find yourself in Tokyo, either one would be a wonderful window into the future of what art can be, with both providing a distinctive experience. Borderless will give you a lot for the price of your ticket, its massive spaces and ever-changing rooms providing hours and hours of fun. It’s energetic and bright and busy, a wonderful place for kids and adults alike, and while it has a few rough edges to work around its art will bring a smile to your face and a twinkle of wonder to your eye. If you find Borderless a little too crowded, Planets allows you and all your senses to venture through a quiet world where nothing seems to matter except but the splendor of art. Children may find it boring, but for those wanting to lose themselves in rooms of gentle light that feel almost natural in their peacefulness, Planets can’t be beat. And if you’re looking for a city to match each of the museums, there’s no other city quite like Tokyo. I may hold to the belief that the capital isn’t a great representation of Japan as a whole, but I can’t deny the feeling of wonder everyone seems to get when they first visit. Just like teamLab there are parts of Tokyo that feel like a glimpse into the future, and if it’s as bright as they make it look, then I can’t wait to be a part of it.
If you are interested in seeing footage from Borderless and Planets I, as always, point you towards the Tokyo video Emily made during our time there.
WabiSabi She 