Graffiti Nature - Living in the Ruins of a Bathhouse, Red List

teamLab, 2017-, Interactive Digital Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

Graffiti Nature - Living in the Ruins of a Bathhouse, Red List

teamLab, 2017-, Interactive Digital Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

All the various creatures drawn by visitors live in the ruins of the bathhouse in Mifuneyama Park. Color in a creature on the paper provided, and see the picture you have drawn come to life and move in front of you.

Living things eat and are eaten by other living things in one shared ecosystem.

The creatures you draw will multiply if they eat other living things, but they will die and disappear if they do not eat enough, or if they are eaten by other creatures.

The salamanders eat the snakes, the snakes eat the lizards, the lizards eat the frogs, and the frogs eat the butterflies, each one propagating as they consume. Likewise, the butterflies multiply in places where flowers grow.

Although flowers will bloom if people stay still, their petals will scatter if people walk around and step on them. Salamanders will die if people step on them too much.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List is a database of the conservation status of biological species. Wildlife assessed in the Red List, including threatened and endangered species, appear in this work.

Background of Artwork

Ecosystem

More than 10 million living species are said to exist on Earth. Each and every one of these species lives while interacting with the others. Plants create nutrition from rain, soil, and the sunlight (photosynthesis). Animals eat those plants. These animals, in turn, are eaten by other animals. When animals die bacteria decompose their bodies, allowing plants to use them for nutrition.

All these living things and the habitat they live in is known as an “ecosystem”. Inside an ecosystem, everyone plays a specific role. Therefore, when an animal or plant greatly changes in number due to climate change or human intervention, the ecosystem’s balance is destroyed, thus affecting all that live inside it.

How to interact with the artwork

1
Color and draw on the prepared paper.
2
Scan the drawing.
3
The animals and flowers come to life in the exhibition space!
4
Stand still and flowers will bloom around you, walk around and the flower petals will scatter.
5
Move close to the animals and they will sense your presence and start to move.