What to See and Do at the New teamLab Borderless in Azabudai Hills, Tokyo

teamLab: The Acclaimed Art Collective Known the World Over

Founded in 2001, teamLab is an art collective made up of experts in various fields including art, engineering, animation, mathematics, and architecture. Creating art experiences through digital technology that break down boundaries and allow humans to explore their own relationships with nature, teamLab’s exhibitions have become renowned for their educational value and innovative light-and-shadow technology.

Since its formation, teamLab has been exhibiting internationally and establishing permanent exhibitions of its works in major museums around the world. From summer 2018 through August 2022, the team opened the permanent  exhibition held in a 10,000-square-meter space: teamLab Borderless in Odaiba, Tokyo. The name refers to an ever-changing world of art that can’t be contained by any boundary or map. Over the years, it has become one of the must-see attractions for visitors to Tokyo.

In the summer of 2022, however, the curtain fell on the Odaiba location, with teamLab announcing that it would be moving to a new facility in Azabudai Hills - teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM, which opened on February 9, 2024 with a completely new look. Tickets are already being sold through the official site and other platforms, and we had the pleasure of touring the facility in advance to introduce it and teamLab’s new works to our readers. Here are the highlights of our visit!

Renewal and Evolution Are Felt All Throughout teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM

On February 9, 2024, the all-new, highly anticipated teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM (hereafter "teamLab Borderless") opened to the public through the cooperation between the art collective and the eponymous MORI Building.

Located in the heart of Tokyo on the basement floor of Garden Plaza B in Azabudai Hills, the teamLab attraction is a large-scale "borderless" world in every meaning of the word, covering an area of 7,000 square meters and featuring 610 computers and 560 projectors.

Along with a venue change, teamLab Borderless has also evolved in other ways. Not only have its most popular works been renewed, many new thematic works were also unveiled at the new location where they were allowed to move and influence each other within a complex space. Through these works, teamLab hopes that visitors will be able to fully immerse themselves in art, exploring it at their own pace and discovering a world without limits.

Below are some of the works that we were most impressed by.

Featured Exhibitions

1. People Don’t See the World as through a Camera

One of the core concepts of teamLab Borderless is to break the conventional human perception of boundaries and change the way that art is presented through the presence and movements of the audience who become integrated or fused with the art. You can see this idea implemented as early as at the entrance.

When you prepare to step into the venue, you'll suddenly realize that you’re actually already inside one of the exhibits. Looking around you, you see letters that appear slightly distorted and irregular at first glance, but fall together and neatly spell out “teamLab★ Borderless” when seen through a camera lens from a designated position.

Through this installation, humans can recognize that the world where their physical bodies exist and the world seen through the lens of a camera are separate and distinct spaces, which are the basic tenets of teamLab’s “Borderless” or rather “Boundless” philosophy.

2. Borderless World

The museum’s concept of “no boundaries” is evident by the placement of multiple artworks within the huge exhibition space where the borders between the pieces are blurred, thus allowing audiences to become more immersed in the art. Sometimes other works cross into other spaces, and sometimes they influence the works there. In addition to the interaction between pieces, the audience is free to move and interact in whatever way they want within this space, building relationships with other people and the artwork.

One of the works, “Universe of Water Particles on a Rock where People Gather,” is a popular piece familiar from the previous venue in Odaiba where you can stand on an elevation with streams of light cascading down from behind you to mimic the continuous flow of water resembling a waterfall.

Other than rocks and waterfalls, the space displays an “influx” from other works in the museum, like a Japanese kanji characters that fall from the sky. When touched by a spectator, the characters are instantly transformed into a form that represents their meaning. For example, touching the character for "tree" causes a giant tree to sprout on the wall.

All of the images are influenced by the actions of the audience, always unique, never the same, breaking through our perceptions and preconceived ideas of boundaries. By sometimes influencing and sometimes mixing with the surrounding physical space and time and interacting with other artworks, the pieces form teamLab’s continuously connected “Borderless” world that isn’t limited to the exhibition space.

3. Bubble Universe

Clear, sparkling soap bubbles are blown and scattered in the air, recreating the joy of childhood play. That’s the first impression one gets the moment one steps into this exhibition space. The spheres floating in front of you are like light trapped inside bubbles, and as visitors approach a sphere, the one nearest to them starts glowing brightly and makes a sound. The light source is then transmitted from one sphere only to the nearest spheres, passing through each sphere only once and becoming a single trajectory of light.

Bubble Universe is constantly aglow through the actions of the visitors. The colors of the sparkling spheres are continuously transmitted to their neighbors, and since the light passes through each sphere only once, it all forms a mesmerizing trail that you can follow with your eyes throughout the space. In here, the spheres resonated with each other, intertwining countless twinkles to construct a unique and dreamlike universe of light.

4. Universe of Water Particles - Born in the Darkness, Return to the Darkness

Upon entering this enclosed space, visitors will find large square blocks embedded fromin the walls, though depending on the time of day, different works may be displayed here. The artwork range from delicate red flowers to waves composed of lines that are in constant flux, swirling like living creatures and bringing to mind the forces of nature. Each block is intermingled and connected with another.

This series of three-dimensional wall displays of flowers and waves not only breaks down the boundary between the human body and artwork, but also symbolizes a merging of space and time. Moreover, because there is no one focal point visitors can focus on, their perception becomes free and unchained, connecting the art space with the domain of the body.

5. Infinite Crystal World

Stepping into Infinite Crystal World felt like being in outer space made up of countless, interconnected dots of light. Fans of teamLab will be familiar with this kind of stippling technique. Infinite Crystal World is a continuation of the Light Sculpture – Point series that began with teamLab Crystal Tree in 2013, utilizing accumulated points of light in three-dimensional space to create sculptures of solid light.

An interesting aspect of this work is that its presentation changes depending on the interaction between the viewer and the artwork. Specifically, the viewer can select different elements, colors, and other effects to be projected onto the work from an on-site control panel or from the teamLab app you can download on your phone.

The method used to create this work is similar to pointilism , where the artist uses various small dots to create an image. You could say that the work is the creation of space from light supplied by the people visiting the exhibition hall. As the elements that make up Infinite Crystal World are chosen by people, and as the people in the room constantly influence each other, it’s impossible to predict what pattern will emerge next. It wouldn’t be too much to say that every second of this three-dimensional work of light and shadow is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

6. Light Sculpture - Flow Series

Sound and light continuously assemble around a rectangular space, reconstructing it into a three-dimensional sculpture of light and shadow. The sculptures created by the constant flow of light form unique universes full of life, each one lasting only 3-4 minutes. When viewing this work of art, it’s a good idea to stand in the center and immerse yourself in each new universe, as shown in the photo above.

7. People Create Space and Time, at the Confluence of their Spacetime New Space and Time is Born

In this exhibition area, when a visitor touches the wall, the affected area begins to produce small, dense, black, round shapes at regular rhythms and intervals, gradually growing larger and radiating outward.

These dark circular elements are created by people’s movements, and when they overlap, they form a new scenery that’s continually influenced by the movements of others, always in flux, always changing. Like cherry blossoms, these shapes are born, bloom, and fall, only to do it over and over again. The work is especially recommended when there are fewer people around, so that you can have more time to admire the work of art that you yourself have created.

8. EN TEA HOUSE

In addition to enjoying the interactions with various artworks in the facility, we recommend taking a short break at the EN TEA HOUSE located inside the museum. Order a cup of tea (hot or iced) and admire the flowers blooming and falling in their teacup. A cup of tea represents a one-of-a-kind world, and the best part about this one is that you can drink it.

On this particular day, we ordered an ice cream and drink set. The warm tea latte was a blend of German chamomile, hojicha (roasted green tea), and milk, and it smelled absolutely divine. After watching the flowers bloom and fall while inhaling the sweet aroma, one of us lifted the bowl and drank. And in that instance, all their senses were in perfect harmony.

In addition to the drink, we also tried green tea gelato made with powdered green tea from Saga and coconut milk. The gelato had a smooth, delicate texture with no bitterness to it, so even children and vegetarians can enjoy it. Also, the deep-green sphere of the gelato with leaves sprouting out of it made a beautiful companion to the light butterflies occasionally dancing in the air. When visiting the cafe, choose your favorite drink and green tea gelato and enjoy this unique and mysterious culinary experience in a quiet, dark space.

About teamLab Borderless

teamLab Borderless is devoted to its mission of helping audiences become one with art. With the reopening of teamLab Borderless, it has gained new opportunities to make that goal a reality. At Azabudai Hills artworks intertwine and interact with each other with no boundaries between them and no laid-out path to help guide visitors, making every encounter a one-of-a-kind moment that will never be repeated. Thanks to this, everyone can explore their own unique world within the same labyrinth of wonder.

[Things to Keep in Mind and Tips for Photographers]

*Please note that this article is about the teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM in Azabudai Hills, which is different from teamLab Planets TOKYO DMM in Toyosu.                                                  *Tripods, selfie sticks, and flash photography are prohibited.
*Single-color clothing (all-white or all-black) is recommended for an enhanced photographic experience.
*Many of the works in the facility have glass floors, so we recommend wearing pants and comfortable walking shoes.

 

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