Floating in the air, a colossal sculpture is born from a sea of foam, transcending the concept of mass. It neither sinks to the ground nor rises all the way to the ceiling, but drifts somewhere in the middle of the space. The outline of this floating sculpture’s existence is ambiguous; it can break apart into smaller pieces or merge together into a larger mass. Even if a person enters it with their whole body, its existence is maintained, and even if it is broken by people, it repairs itself. However, when the mass is destroyed beyond the range it can repair on its own, the repairs cannot keep up and it begins to collapse. And even if people try to push it or move it aside, they cannot move this sculpture; if people fan wind at it, the sculpture will scatter. No physical action by humans can even move this sculpture. Pebbles, and things humans have made up to now, are objects, and objects have stable structures in themselves. A pebble continues to exist even if placed in a sealed box cut off from the outside world. By contrast, a vortex born in the sea disappears instantly when moved into a closed box. In other words, a vortex does not maintain a stable structure of its own. A vortex is an existence within the flow created by its environment, formed by water that continuously flows from outside the vortex to inside, and from inside to outside. Sustained by the structured order generated by that flow, the vortex continues to exist and changes along with the flow. And the outline of its existence is ambiguous: both the vortex and the outside of the vortex are made of water, with no material difference at all. Instead of creating objects, by creating a special environment, existence is created through the order of energy generated by that environment. Let us call existence formed by this order of energy “Higher-Order Sculpture.” It cannot be separated from its environment and changes as the environment changes. It transcends the conventional understanding of existence based on objects, maintains its presence in midair, and has an ambiguous outline. Even if a person enters it with their whole body, its existence is maintained, and if it is broken, it repairs its own existence. It is a sculpture premised on an open system. In this space, the only matter that exists is water, air, and ordinary soap. By filling the space with foam, creating a singular environment, and generating an order of energy within it, a colossal mass is born from the sea of bubbles, rises up, and remains suspended in midair. In current biology, it is not possible to define life strictly, but for convenience, living things are called organisms if they are composed of cells, metabolize, and can self-replicate. In other words, all living things are made of cells. And all cells are enclosed by cell membranes composed of lipid bilayers. The outside of the bilayer is hydrophilic, the space between the layers is hydrophobic, and both the outside and inside of the enclosing sac are water. Soap bubbles are similarly enclosed by membranes made of lipid bilayers, and the bubbles that constitute this sculpture are structurally the same as cell membranes. However, unlike cells, the outside of the bilayer in a bubble is hydrophobic and the space between the layers is hydrophilic, so both the outside and inside of the sac are air. In other words, if a cell is a sac-like membrane in water, a bubble is a sac-like membrane in air. This sculpture is created from matter with the same structure as cells, the basic units of living organisms, and from the order of energy generated by the environment. Life, too, takes in matter and energy from outside as food, expels matter, and dissipates energy outward while forming ordered structures. Like a vortex, life is an existence within the flow of matter and energy created by the external environment, and the outline of its existence is ambiguous. The structure of life is the order of energy created by that flow, and life may be a miraculous phenomenon found within the flow of matter and energy. Artwork page: https://www.teamlab.art/jp/ew/masslesssculpture-kyoto/kyoto/

An educational project conceived as a way to explore, discover, catch, observe, gather knowledge, and expand curiosity with one’s own body. In the Forest of Extinct Animals, extinct animals live. When you approach or touch the animals, they run away or turn around. You catch various kinds of extinct animals, observe them, and build your own collection encyclopedia. Using the smartphone camera, you look at the animals walking through the space, and when you cast the “eye of observation” at the animal visible on the screen, it flies into the real space. When the “eye of observation” hits the animal, it disappears from the space and enters your smartphone, where it is collected. When you swipe a captured animal to a place visible through the camera, it is released and returns to that spot. Also, if you cast an “observation net” wherever you like, an “observation net” will be spread at your feet. Working together with the people around you and using your body to drive the animals into the “observation net,” the animals disappear from the space and are collected in the encyclopedia in the same way. The collection encyclopedia fills in more detailed information the more times you catch the same animal. Work page: An educational project conceived as a way to explore, discover, catch, observe, gather knowledge, and expand curiosity with one’s own body. In the Forest of Extinct Animals, extinct animals live. When you approach or touch the animals, they run away or turn around. You catch various kinds of extinct animals, observe them, and build your own collection encyclopedia. Using the smartphone camera, you look at the animals walking through the space, and when you cast the “eye of observation” at the animal visible on the screen, it flies into the real space. When the “eye of observation” hits the animal, it disappears from the space and enters your smartphone, where it is collected. When you swipe a captured animal to a place visible through the camera, it is released and returns to that spot. Also, if you cast an “observation net” wherever you like, an “observation net” will be spread at your feet. Working together with the people around you and using your body to drive the animals into the “observation net,” the animals disappear from the space and are collected in the encyclopedia in the same way. The collection encyclopedia fills in more detailed information the more times you catch the same animal. Work page: https://www.teamlab.art/jp/ew/collecting-forest-planets/planets/

Description: This being slowly rises from the ground and comes to a stop in the air. It is not being suspended, nor does it have any power source of its own. This being transcends the concept of mass, and remains still in midair, neither on the ground nor at the ceiling. At times it rises, at times it sinks, and at times it stays motionless in the air. At times it moves abruptly, and at times it falls to the ground. Yet as if restoring its own state, it slowly rises again and comes to rest in the air. It creates a special environment, and through that environment, it produces an order of energy at the center of space. And through that order of energy, it creates a being. Let us call this being created by the order of energy “High-Order Sculpture.” It cannot be separated from its environment, and changes as the environment changes. It transcends the conventional understanding of existence as objects, maintains its presence in midair, and restores its own state. It is a sculpture premised on an open system. Work page: https://www.teamlab.art/jp/ew/levitationvoid-phenomena/phenomena/

Color strokes are not grasped as a whole by anyone, nor are they directed, nor are they influenced from outside. As simple interactions arise locally between strokes, or between strokes and people, order continues to emerge on its own while moving toward disorder. Even if each one is separated in time and space, once order emerges among them, the constituent elements transcend spacetime and appear as a single existence. And even if their shapes and sizes undergo major superficial changes, or if the constituent elements are replaced, this spacetime existence is maintained. This spacetime existence is part of the sea of disorder, is swallowed up by the sea of disorder, and yet continues to be born again from the sea of disorder. Order and disorder, existence and the whole, have no boundaries and are continuous; they collide and blend together, yet keep rising and receding. Images created through lenses and perspective are spatial illusions that render three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane. Three-dimensional space appears beyond the two-dimensional plane, and that three-dimensional space and the viewer are separate spaces, with the two-dimensional plane serving as the boundary. The viewpoint is fixed, and the body is lost. Unlike these, this work is not a spatial illusion; the work space exists as it is in the same space as people’s bodies. Walls and floors do not become boundary surfaces between the viewer and the work space; the work space becomes one with the space occupied by people’s bodies. The viewer’s viewpoint is not fixed, and the body is free. Work page: https://www.teamlab.art/jp/ew/order-chaos-phenomena/phenomena/