Two years ago TeamLab, the Japanese tech collective of artists, programmers, designers and other technology specialists, held an exhibition in Taiwan. Once it was installed, Toshiyuki Inoko, the ringleader of the group, and several members visited the show on a weekend where they encountered an unexpected sight. “The museum was packed with parents and their kids,” recalls* Inoko. When it comes to museum in Japan, and much of the U.S., children aren’t always the most welcome of visitors. But here “children were expected to scream and run around.”
Light Ball Orchestra: a room filled with squishy balls that change color and make noise on contact
Stunned by the chaotic scene of children interacting with the exhibition, one of the members, who had no particular interest in art – “we are a diverse group and some members are like that,” explains Inoko – suddenly remarked, “I want my kids to experience this too.” And thus began the path to TeamLab’s Future Park, which opens this weekend at Miraikan in Tokyo.
Hopscotch for Geniuses: an animated game of hopscotch made up of circles, squares and triangles.
The exhibition consists of 14 interactive, digital installations, each kid-friendly in their own like. Take the kids or go alone. Explore the digital wonderland that TeamLab has to offer. The exhibition run through March 1, 2015.
Cold Life: A calligraphic series of brush strokes modelled in virtual 3D space forms the character 生 (‘life’) which then metamorphoses into a tree.
Life survives by the power of life: a reconstruction of Japanese calligraphy in 3 dimensional space that express the depth, speed and power of the brush stroke
Nirvana: a sprawling, animated canvas inspired by the work of Ito Jakuchi (1716 – 1800) who painted with tens of thousands of squares or “tiles.”
Light in Dark: a visually stunning world of crows, rendered in light, that fly around the space, leaving trails of light in their wake
Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together, for Eternity: a computer program generates imagery of the flowers that grow in Tokyo
* all quotes translated from Japanese to English by the author
