teamLab: LIFE

Name: teamLab: LIFE
Start: 2020-09-25
End: 2021-08-22
Location: Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

PAST EXHIBITION

Sep 25, 2020 - Aug 22, 2021Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Seoul

#teamLabLIFE

Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19

PAST EXHIBITION

Sep 25, 2020 - Aug 22, 2021Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Seoul

Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19

#teamLabLIFE

teamLab: LIFE
The blessings and threats of nature, as well as the blessings and threats of civilization, are continuous. There is no single source of absolute malice, nor can it all be dismissed idealistically. There are no simple answers, and at times it is difficult to process our emotions. Even so, we want to affirm life in all aspects. Life is beautiful.

#teamLabLIFE

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ARTWORKS

Universe of Water Particles, Transcending Boundaries

Water is represented by a continuum of numerous water particles. The interaction between the particles is calculated, and then lines are drawn in relation to the behavior of the water particles. The lines are “flattened” using what teamLab considers to be ultrasubjective space.
When a person stands on the waterfall, they obstruct the flow of water like a rock, and the flow of water changes. The flow of water continues to transform due to the interaction of people. Previous visual states can never be replicated and will never reoccur. 
The flow of the waterfall influences other artworks.

Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together - Transcending Boundaries, A Whole Year per Hour

This artwork is in continuous change, transcending the boundaries between itself and other works. Over a period of one hour, a year’s worth of seasonal flowers blossoms and scatters.
Flowers are born, grow, bloom, and eventually scatter and die. The cycle of birth and death repeats itself in perpetuity. If people stay still, more flowers are born. If people touch the flowers and walk around the space, the flowers scatter all at once.
The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back: it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork: previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.
The water from the Universe of Water Particles artwork influences this work, causing the flowers to scatter.
In spring in the Kunisaki Peninsula, there are many cherry blossoms in the mountains and canola blossoms at their base. This experience of nature caused teamLab to wonder how many of these flowers were planted by people and how many were native to the environment. It is a place of great serenity and contentment, but the expansive body of flowers is an ecosystem influenced by human intervention, and the boundary between the work of nature and the work of humans is unclear. Rather than nature and humans being in conflict, a healthy ecosystem is one that includes people. In the past, people understood that they could not grasp nature in its entirety, and that it is not possible to control nature. People lived more closely aligned to the rules of nature that created a comfortable natural environment. We believe that these valleys hold faint traces of this premodern relationship with nature that once existed, and we hope to explore a form of human intervention based on the premise that nature cannot be controlled.

Life Survives by the Power of Life II

Although self and nature seem distinct, they are actually a single entity, inseparable from each other. The opposite of division is not unification, and we might  realize that existences that appear to be distinct are actually part of a single whole.The blessings and threats of nature, as well as the blessings and threats of civilization, are continuous. Neither is there a source of absolute malice, nor can it all be dismissed idealistically. Nonetheless, we seek to affirm life in all aspects. Life is beautiful.
In this artwork, 生 (sei), the character that signifies life, is written three-dimensionally using Spatial Calligraphy. Spatial Calligraphy is a form of calligraphy drawn in space that teamLab has been exploring since it was founded. The artwork reconstructs calligraphy in three-dimensional space to express the depth, speed and power of the brush stroke, and that calligraphy is then flattened using the logical structure teamLab calls Ultrasubjective Space. The calligraphy shifts between two and three dimensions.
The space of a traditional artwork, framed by a lens or perspective, appears to be on the other side of the artwork’s surface: the surface becomes a boundary, and the space where the viewer exists is separated from the artwork space. However, one of the characteristics of Ultrasubjective Space is that the artwork surface does not become a boundary. Thus the space in which the artwork exists, transcends the boundary of the artwork surface and is perceived as though it exists three-dimensionally in the same space where the viewer stands. The artwork space is continuous with the viewer’s physical space.

Animals of Flowers, Symbiotic Lives

Seasonal flowers bloom while slowly changing. Animals are born from those flowers. The flowers continue to bloom and die in an eternal cycle, forming the shapes of animals.
When people touch the animals, the flower petals scatter. If people touch the animals too much, all of the flowers will scatter, and the animals will die and fade away.

The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back; it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork, so previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.

Beating Earth

The three-dimensional terrain with varying elevations shifts and writhes, dividing visual and physical cognition of the space.
The movements of people cause the ground to shift and move to an even greater extent.

Shifting Valley, Living Creatures of Flowers, Symbiotic Lives

Living creatures made of flowers live in a three-dimensional world. The flowers continue to bloom and die in an eternal cycle, forming the shapes of living creatures.
Living things eat and are eaten by each other to create one shared ecosystem. If a creature eats other living things, its numbers will increase. On the other hand, if it does not eat enough, it will die. And if it is eaten by another creature, it will disappear. When people step on the creatures’ flowers, the petals will scatter. When people continuously step on a creature, too many flowers will fall, and the creature will die and disappear.
The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back: it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork: previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.

Black Waves: Immersive Mass

All oceans are connected to each other, and so are all the waves in this world.

This artwork has no beginning nor end, it consists of a single, continuous wave.
People who enter the artwork are confronted by this wave mass, and before long, they are drawn in, becoming one with the artwork. They realize that what they perceive as the exterior of the mass is also the interior. The exterior and interior are two sides of the same unified whole, indivisible. They make up a single, seamless existence.

In classical East Asian art, waves are often expressed using a combination of lines. These waves created by lines allow us to realize that each wave is one part of a larger flow, and conveys life as though the waves are a living entity.

When the waves rise, we can feel a powerful breath of life, as though life is blooming. It feels as though each wave has a life of its own. But when the waves collapse and disappear, we realize, with a sense of fragility, that they were a part of the ocean. And that ocean is connected to all of the other oceans. In other words, all of the waves in the world are connected to each other.
The waves seem alive because life is like a rising wave. It is a miraculous phenomenon that continuously emerges from a single, continuous ocean.

The waves are expressed through a continuous body of countless water particles. The interactions of particles are calculated, and then the movement of water is simulated in three-dimensional space. Lines are created along the trajectories of the water particles, and drawn on the surface layer of the three-dimensional waves.
The lines are created with what teamLab refers to as Ultrasubjective Space. In contrast to space that is created through, or cut out by, lenses and perspective, Ultrasubjective Space does not fix the viewer’s viewpoint and in turn frees the body. The wall that the waves are seen on does not become a boundary between the viewer and the artwork, and the artwork space is continuous with the space of the viewer’s body.

Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Life Born on the Other Side

A flutter of butterflies. As people pass through the space on the other side of the glass, outside of the exhibition, butterflies are born from beneath their feet. The flutter of butterflies dance in the space, transcend the boundary created by the glass, and enter the exhibition. When people touch them, the butterflies die.When no one is on the other side of the glass, the space is completely dark and nothing exists.
The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back: it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork: previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.

Proliferating Immense Life

The flowers repeat the cycle of life and death in perpetuity, continually changing with the flow of time. When people touch them, the flower petals scatter and fall away.

The space of the artwork is created with what teamLab refers to as Ultrasubjective Space. In contrast to spaces that are created through, or in other words cut out by, lenses and perspective, Ultrasubjective Space does not fix the viewer’s viewpoint and in turn frees the body. The wall that the flowers are seen on does not become a boundary between the viewer and the artwork, and the artwork space is continuous with the space of the viewer’s body.

Continuous Life and Death at the Crossover of Eternity

Flowers continue to blossom and die in an eternal cycle, the blooms changing with the passage of time in nearby artworks. When people touch the flowers, their petals scatter. But if people hold their hands still against the work, more flowers will be born than usual.
The world of the artwork becomes brighter with the sunrise where it is located, and it becomes darker as the sun sets. 
The time of the repeated life and death of the flowers, the time of the nearby artwork worlds, and the time of the city where the work is located, all of these different times intersect and overlap, while the space of the artwork world, other artwork worlds, and the city remain connected. The artwork space is an overlap of different times and space.
The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back: it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. The interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork: previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur. The picture at this moment can never be seen again.

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Venue Details

teamLab: LIFE

Term

Sep 25, 2020 - Aug 22, 2021

Hours

10:00 - 20:00
Last Entry 19:00

Closed

Oct 5, Oct 19, Nov 2, Nov 16, Nov 30, Dec 14, 2020
Feb 15, Mar 8, Apr 19, Jun 14, Jul 19, 2021
* Operates on national holidays

Website

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

ACCESS

Address

DDP Dongdaemun Design Plaza Museum B2F Design Exhibition Hall (M1 Gate)
281, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 04566

Map

Address in local language:

DDP 동대문 디자인 플라자 배움터 지하 2층 디자인 전시관(M1 Gate)
04566 서울시 중구 을지로 281

By Subway

Exit 1 of Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (Lines 2, 4, and 5)
- Closest to the B2 level entrance to Oullim Square, the Design Market, the Design Lab, and the Museum

Exit 2 of Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (Lines 2, 4, and 5)
- Closest to the first floor entrance of the Design Lab and the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park entrance (near Gallery Moon and underground parking lot)

By Bus

(02-174) Dongdaemun History and Culture Park
-N13, 105, 152, 301, 7212, 9403

(02-173) Dongdaemun History and Culture Park
-N13, N16, N30, 105, 144, 261, 301, 407, 420, 2014, 2233, 7212

(02-175) Dongdaemun History and Culture Park
-N13, N16, N30, 105, 144, 261, 301, 407, 420, 2012, 2015, 2233, 90S Tour

(02-235) Dongdaemun History and Culture Park
-N62, 202, 507, 2014, 2233

(02-280) Dongdaemun Design Plaza
-2012

(02-171) Gwanghui-dong
-N13, N16, 144, 301, 420, 7212

(02-170) Gwanghui-dong
-N13, N16, 100, 105, 144, 301, 420, 407, 7212

(02-169) National Medical Center on Euljiro-6ga
-N30, 100, 105, 202, 152, 261

By Car

From Heunginjimun and Cheonggye 6-ga areas via Jangchungdan-ro
- Turn left toward Sindang Station and Chungmu Art Hall at Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Junction
- Follow Eulji-ro 45-gil approximately 200 m
- Enter DDP basement parking lot

From Majang Station and Heunginjimun areas via Majang-ro
- Make a left turn at the fashion mall U:us 
- Take Eulji-ro 45-gil 
- Enter DDP basement parking lot after approximately 300 m

From the Hannam-daegyo and Jangchung Gymnasium areas via Jangchungdan-ro
- Pass Gwanghui-dong Junction and make a left turn toward Sindang Station and Chungmu Art Hall at Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Junction
- Follow Eulji-ro 45-gil approximately 200 m 
- Enter DDP basement parking lot

For Media

Press Kit

NEWS

Featured on The Korea Herald, Jan 18, 2021

[Feature] When art meets technology

The artwork -- “Animals of Flower, Symbiotic Lives II” -- was one of several at the exhibition “teamLab: LIFE” at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul that went viral after it opened last September, attracting a large number of visitors despite the ongoing pandemic. Designed by teamLab, an art collective, the artworks are not pre-recorded images on continuous playback. The works are created by a computer program that recognizes viewers in real time. In other words, the art pieces change constantly depending on how the viewers choose to interact with the installed works.(Excerpt from the text)

Featured on YONSEI Annals, Nov 30, 2020

“teamLab: LIFE”—Returning to our Roots

TODAY, ART exhibitions are becoming more interactive and digital than they have ever been. We are now faced with installations that aren’t just encased in a frame on the wall, but are expanding across all four walls and even the floor. With the projected images constantly changing from the interaction between people and the artwork, viewers can use their senses of sight, hearing, and touch to experience the artwork. teamLab, an international art collective* since 2001, is an interdisciplinary group of specialists that aims to discover the relationship between the self and our natural world. (Excerpt from the text)

Featured on Korea JoongAng Daily, Sep 28, 2020

Art collective teamLab combines humans and nature

Amid heated controversy over whether Instagram-friendly, spectacular digital images are now a field of contemporary art or just high-tech attractions, one of the world's most famous collectives for such works, teamLab, started a solo exhibition at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul on Friday. teamLab, which was formed in 2001 in Tokyo and now consists of hundreds of artists, engineers, programmers, computer graphic animators and other experts, presents 10 pieces of animated large-scale digital works, under the theme of "Life." (Excerpt from the text)

ARTIST

teamLab

teamLab (f. 2001) is an international art collective. Their collaborative practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, and the natural world. Through art, the interdisciplinary group of specialists, including artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects, aims to explore the relationship between the self and the world, and new forms of perception.

In order to understand the world around them, people separate it into independent entities with perceived boundaries between them. teamLab seeks to transcend these boundaries in our perceptions of the world, of the relationship between the self and the world, and of the continuity of time. Everything exists in a long, fragile yet miraculous, borderless continuity.

teamLab’s works are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra;  Amos Rex, Helsinki; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul; and Asia Society Museum, New York, among others.

teamlab.art

Biographical Documents

teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery, Martin Browne Contemporary and Ikkan Art.

Organizers

CultureDepot

Supporters

STUDIO DRAGON, IEUM HASHTAG, GRAYGO, STONEHENgE