When people touch flowers, the flowers fall and die. When people touch sand, the falling sand breaks. Since ancient times, people have watched sand fall and come to understand the concept of fleeting time, and through the changing of blooming flowers, they have sensed the passage of long time. The time carried by falling sand, the time in which flowers are born and die again and again, and the time of the human body—these different times intersect and overlap. The space of the flowers is framed by teamLab’s concept of “ultrasubjective space,” so unlike space framed by a lens or perspective, the viewer’s point of view is not fixed, and the body is liberated. And the wall on which the flowers are projected does not become a boundary between us and the artwork; the space of the flowers continues seamlessly with the space in which people’s bodies exist. Artwork page: https://www.teamlab.art/jp/ew/life-sandfall-jeddah/jeddah/

Commentary: The self and the environment are not two separate things; they are inseparable, two in appearance but one in reality. The opposite of division may not be unity, but rather the realization that what appears to be two is in fact one. The blessings and threats of nature, and the blessings and threats of civilization, are all continuous and connected. There is no absolute malice anywhere, nor can everything be dismissed with idealistic optimism. There are no simple answers, and even our emotions may remain unresolved. Even so, in every situation, I want to affirm everything about “living.” Life is beautiful. The kanji “生,” meaning life and living, is written in three dimensions through “kūsho,” or writing in empty space. “Kūsho” refers to teamLab’s practice, continued since its founding, of writing calligraphy in space. By reinterpreting qualities found in brushstrokes—such as depth, speed, and force—and reconstructing them three-dimensionally in space, teamLab’s “Super Subjective Space” renders them two-dimensional. Calligraphy moves between the planar and the three-dimensional. In works whose space is framed by a lens or perspective, the artwork space appears beyond the display surface. In other words, the display surface becomes a boundary, separating the space where the viewer exists from the artwork space. However, one of the characteristics of “Super Subjective Space” is that in the artwork space framed by it, the display surface does not become a boundary. This artwork space is perceived as if it exists three-dimensionally beyond the display surface, extending into the very space where the viewer stands. The artwork space continues seamlessly with the space occupied by the viewer’s body. Related Exhibitions: ・“Every Wall is a Door” Superblue Miami Miami, Florida https://www.teamlab.art/jp/e/superbluemiami/ ・“teamLab: LIFE” Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Seoul https://www.teamlab.art/jp/e/ddp/ Work Details: https://www.teamlab.art/jp/w/lifesurvives/

This original work was created in a filming, editing, and compositing workshop held in the “Video Expression 1” class for third-year students in the Integrated Design Department at Tama Art University, which I teach. Based on this format, the students also performed one action each afterward.

First, since this group’s feelings were condensed into the lyrics, I aimed for an expression in which the lyrics would serve as the core of the whole piece. Because I wanted to add more depth to the thoughts and story embedded in the lyrics, I translated the lyrics into concise, summarized English and tried to give the meaning a new angle. Since there is a work that preceded this one, the song “3WD,” I also paid attention to the changes and evolution from that earlier piece.