Spring is approaching and, in Japan, that can mean just one thing—it’s cherry blossom season! For the international art collective teamLab, the changing season brings a fresh look to their population installations. Masters of creating immersive experiences, they keep things fresh by renewing their pieces as the year moves forward. In the teamLab Forest Fukuoka museum, this means cherry blossoms will explode across several different room installations.
The museum, which is located in southwestern Japan, is themed around a forest where visitors are pushed to explore with their bodies and “catch” what they discover either physically or with their phone. From March 1, the rooms will take on the pink hues of cherry blossoms and give visitors a new reason to take in the experience.
In Shifting Valley, there is a world made of flowers that scatter across the floor and up the walls. These flowers even form animals that, when touched, scatter into petals. In this way, teamLab touches on the natural cycle of life. In Soft Terrain and Granular Topography, different colors pour down and pool in the varying elevations created by the collective. As people walk over them, the colorful granules disperse into patterns.
Pink and yellow butterflies are the protagonists of Flutter of Butterflies, Ephemeral Life. It’s a beautiful piece where the power of people to create or destroy is placed centrally. “When no one is in the artwork space, it is completely dark and nothing exists,” teamLab writes. “When people enter the space and stand still, butterflies are born from their feet where they stand, or from their hands where they touch the wall. The butterflies flutter around, changing colors with the seasons, and die when they are touched by people.”
All of the installations are unique and individual. There is no pre-recorded loop. As with all teamLab installations, a computer renders the artwork in real-time based on the interaction between people and the space. The spring installations will be up until June (when the summer season begins) and can be visited by purchasing advanced tickets.
The teamLab Forest museum in Fukuoka is celebrating spring.
All of the immersive rooms in the museum will bloom with cherry blossoms from March 1.
As visitors interact with the space, the artwork transforms.
The spring installation will last until June.
