Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Ephemeral Life Born from People

teamLab, 2018, Interactive Digital Installation, Endless

Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Ephemeral Life Born from People

teamLab, 2018, Interactive Digital Installation, Endless

The butterflies in Flutter of Butterflies are born from people, they dance in the space, but if people touch them they die.

When people enter the space and stand still, a butterfly chrysalis appears on their body, and the butterfly emerges and flies from their feet.
The artwork is born from a person, but they themselves may not realize it. Instead, they will notice the butterflies being born on other people before realizing that they too are creating the artwork.

The butterflies transcend the boundaries of the display, entering and flying around in other works. By seamlessly flying into other works they break the concept of the artwork frame, and make the boundaries ambiguous. The butterflies are affected by the conditions in other artworks.

If people touch and kill too many butterflies, then the work will cease to exist.

Neither prerecorded nor on loop, the work is rendered in real time by a computer program. The interaction between the viewer and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork. Previous visual states can never be replicated and will never reoccur.