TeamLab's Immersive Art Experience

Golden-coloured fish swim around the room

Yesterday morning we woke up relatively early to get to teamLab Borderless in Azabudai Hills, located in a swanky undulating building designed by Heatherwick Studios.

One could tell they were in the right vicinity with so many foreigners trying to figure out where teamLab Borderless was, as the signage only said "Digital art museum". But take the escalator down into the basement and around the corner painted on the ceiling was "teamLab Borderless".

Art is projected around the walls and floors

All visitors had to place all their belongings (except their phones) into lockers, including umbrellas, as it's quite dark inside and would be near impossible to find things. 

That's because teamLab is a collective that brings together art and technology that goes beyond a frame or wall. Images are projected on walls and floors, while mirrors are used extensively to give the impression of going on and on, or maximising special effects.

Visitors are told there is no specific route, and are encouraged to revisit rooms over and over as they will change completely over time. It's a completely immersive visual and audio experience that can overwhelm the senses and one can't but help try to record videos of everything. 

At the start there is a fun procession of mostly frogs on their hind legs, walking, with the odd rabbit. The frogs bring blessings and protect travellers, ensuring their safe return. Frogs are also related to prosperity. They were a recurring motif in some of the rooms.

Spheres give a feeling of limitlessness

Not all the projections were interactive, but fun nonetheless. One fun room had amateur drawings of sea life and it turned out to be contributions from visitors themselves. They were scanned and then projected on the walls moving around and if you "touched" them, they would move away. People were lining up to have a chance to draw something. Some put their names on the fish or whatever sea creature they drew so that they could easily identify them.

Another room was completely immersive, like being in a fantasy underwater scene, with a school of golden carp swimming in and around sea plants. My friend felt a bit dizzy, while I was transfixed by how fantastic it felt to be inside this other world.

We stopped for a tea break... one of the rooms is a tea house and so we ordered two cups of barley tea. We were ushered into a dark room where we sat in chairs that we easily slipped into sideways and then waited for the staff to prepare our drinks. She first came out with a glass bowl and then returned later to fill it with the tea that had an oat taste. But wait -- flowers were projected into the bowl and the petals began spreading behind the bowl and onto the table. Again more content you had to commemorate on video and post on social media.

Sea creatures drawn by visitors projected on walls

It's quite amazing that teamLab has several projects in Japan, like Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, as well as in Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Macau, and Miami. It probably get more fun to create as technology improves, though a lot of accurate set-up and production needs to be made to ensure a flawless execution.

A lot of manpower is needed just to control crowds or ensure visitors are OK, and all the staff speak English.

It's probably become a prestige thing to be able to say you have visited specific teamLab projects, though if you have had the chance to see one, then you can see what all the fuss is about. It's not what art purists may think is art, but it is certainly art for the masses that is extremely popular, beautiful and fun.

teamLab Borderless

Mori Building Digital Art Museum

Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B1

5-9 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo