Isekai Travels - Japan

Today, I was recovering from a really bad hangover from the night before 🍻 I didn't want the day to be completely dedicated to recovering so I booked tickets to see the Team Lab Planet interactive art exhibition. I wanted to go to the other Team Lab Borderless location but it was closed down around when the borders opened up to foreigners. For this section, I'll be listing the exhibitions in the order of interesting I found them. I actually accidentally left before seeing the last Garden area so maybe I will go again!

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Orientation
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Getting into line for the museum, we were asked to stand in a queue and watch a video explaining the rules and what to expect. The video announced there were some parts of the exhibit where you may be knee deep in water. At this point, it was clear most of the people attending were not Japanese because the whole room got very loud with people exclaiming in suprise when they learned shoes and long pants were not optional. This was a bit jarring because I've been getting used to the buses and trains being completely silent even when something out of the ordinary happens.

We stepped inside and I placed all of my belongings, shoes, and socks into a locker and walked into a dark hallway where I'd enter the first exhibit.

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The Infinite Crystal Universe
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/infinite_c…
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The Infinite Crystal Universe really did feel like I was in another world. My entire vision was consumed with the LED lights that hung from the ceiling and were reflected by mirrors on the ground. When looking into a mirror on the wall, it looked as if I was floating in a sea of light. I loved how there were times where I didn't really feel like an individual walking but instead felt like an entity floating trough light. This was probably my favorite exhibit because of how consumed by the art I was able to feel. Viewers were also able to influence the LEDs by using the phone application. By selecting from the assortment of random LED patterns called "stars", we were able to influence how the lights performed.

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Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/fitfuof/
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This exhibit had flowers projected onto a sphere ceiling where you could watch endless flowers falling in different patterns. What made this so cool was the feeling of being consumed by the falling flowers. The floor was mirrors and the projecters were skillfully conceiled so it felt like I was existing in a whole different world. We were able to lay down and watch as the flowers and butterflies went by and it was mesmerizing. I spent a long time here just laying down and staring up at the ceiling and thinking about how cool it was that an artificial world like this could take me away from reality.

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Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People - Infinity
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/koi_and_pe…
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This exhibit was the one that required you to get about knee deep in water and walk around. Koi were projected directly down onto the water as as you walked, you would influence the path of the koi and how they gather within the water. I think it's amazing how the koi react to the individuals viewing the art rather than on a predermined route. This makes every viewing of the art a unique experience.

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Matter is Void
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/matterisvo…
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This exhibit existed within the koi pond exhibit. I was a bit confused on the purpose of this piece until I read the snippet outside the exhibit that explained its purpose. The words read "Paper Burns as I Write" and originally read "Matter is Void" when the exhibit was first released. The art exists as an NFT where the owner of the NFT can change the words at will. When the words are changed, the font, letter, and effects will also change within the NFT. Thus, this is an example of living art where anyone can experience the art in that moment but it may change as ownership of the NFT changes. A lot of people do not like the idea of NFTs, but I think this is a good example of how they can be used for artistic expression. The technology behind NFTs is not itself evil or corrupt, but many associate the scams associated with them as a catch-all label that NFTs are bad and should be completely erradicated. In all honesty, NFTs are just a tool in the same way a knife is a tool. A knife can cause immense harm to an individual but also provide endless positive influences such as helping us cook food, cut rope, open boxes, etc. I find it very strange that people can not see beyond the confined black and white conclusion that a particular tool is good or bad. All tools are tools, and it's how we as humans use them that make them bad or good.

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Waterfall of Light Particles at the Top of an Incline
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/lightparti…
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The first exhibit played peaceful music while I walked down a hallway of darkness lit only by blue lights illuminating the floor. After a sharp left, a ramp with flowing water led up to a Waterfall at the top. It was refreshing to feel the water pass my feet and only hear soft music with the sound of flowing water. As with most of these exhibits, the world seemed to fade away as I was experiencing this moment. The feeling of water brushing past, the incline gripping my feet, the light at the end of the tunnel, and the feeling of being all on my own was serene. I had not done much research on the exhibits so I was suprised to immediately have such a sensory experience. Reaching the top, there is a water fall that had been supplying the incline with its flowing water. What truely made the waterfall beautiful was that the source of light wasn't particulary easy to identify, so it seemed like the waterfall itself was illuminated and no exterior lights were to be found. This exhibit was simple but beautiful in its simplicity.

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Soft Black Hole
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/soft_black…
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This floor of this room contains a material that will consume your whole leg similar to quick sand. I went accross as an individual, but the idea of this room is that as other people move accross the ground with you, it changes your own gait and ability to walk. I love art like this which shows how the actions of those around you can influence your own environment and how your own actions can influence others.

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Expanding Three-Dimensional Existence in Transforming Space - Flattening 3 Colors and 9 Blurred Colors, Free Floating
https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/ew/transformi…
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I don't have much to say about this exhibit. The purpose of it was that as people enter and leave the area, the spheres would react and change color or rise and lower based on the pressure in the room. The more people, the more the variables would change and impact the spheres. The concept is cool, but while I was in the room it was difficult to observe differences in the spheres.

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Synopsis
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Overall, I think this type of art is my favorite. All the exhibits are a bit like the Schrödinger's cat experiment where the act of observing the art changes the art itself. Many classical pieces capture eras in time but interactive pieces such as this capture moments in time. That one moment, with the combination of interactions or the observers create an experience completely unique to the individual. I could go back here and have a completely different experience because of the people surrounding me. Being able to capture the concept of how every experience we have on a day to day basis is influenced by our surroundings is truly beautiful and moving.Leia mais