TOKYO: In the basement maze beneath Japan’s tallest skyscraper, construction crews and digital artists are racing to create an immersive museum that will serve as the cultural anchor of Tokyo’s latest megaproject.
TeamLab, an international artist collective, broke a Guinness World Record by attracting more than 2 million visitors to the Borderless museum on Odaiba island in Tokyo Bay in 2019. The name refers to digital artworks that blend together and encourage guests to wander at their own pace.
This attraction closed last year ahead of the redevelopment of the site by Mori Building, one of Japan’s leading developers. Mori is expected to reopen in February at the new Azabudai Hills complex in central Tokyo.
“What’s really important for us is to be able to create this kind of large space where we can showcase,” TeamLab founder Toshiyuki Inoko said in an interview on Friday.
The relocation is part of Mori’s strategy to embed cultural attractions into integrated business and residential projects. The 330-meter (1,082-foot) Mori JP Tower will open next week, along with adjacent shopping malls, residential towers, medical facilities and a school in various stages of construction.
Several pieces of the new Borderless facility are nearing completion; these include ‘Flowers and People’, a continuous computer projection of blooming and scattering petals, and ‘Bubble Universe’, a mirrored room of glowing bulbs that appears to stretch on forever.
TeamLab has gained a global reputation for its experimental and interactive set pieces that combine images and senses. Previous projects in Tokyo have combined digital art with a sauna experience and laser light show enhancing the performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘Turandot’.
“As a team, we want to create something that makes people feel that continuity is a beautiful thing,” Inoko said.
news source (www.brecorder.com)
