teamLab stages immersive art and sauna experience in tokyo

in the lively entertainment district of roppongi in tokyo, art collective teamLab is planning an unprecedented exhibition combining the experiences of art and sauna. ‘tiktok teamLab reconnect’ is scheduled for public viewing for a limited time of six months, from march 22 – august 31, 2021. the exhibition invites visitors to enter an actual sauna, immerse themselves in a ‘sauna trance’, and then experience art in a pure and meditative mental state. through the alternating exposure to the heat and humidity of the sauna, followed by cold water and then art submersion, visitors are asked to open their minds to experience an ever-expanding physical sensation, and become one with the art. ‘recognizing that the mind, body, and environment are the wholeness of our being, we reconnect to the world and time…’ teamLab says.

ephemeral solidified light, 2021 | interactive installation, sound by teamlab

the exhibition debuts multiple never-before-seen, large-scale installations by teamLab, including levitation, and proliferating immense life in the ‘art submersion’ area, step into the light circle in the ‘cold bathing’ area, and array and spiral of resonating lamps in the ‘sauna’ area. furthermore, a renewed exhibition website announces details of the sauna facilities, and informs guests how to experience three sets of repeated exposure to the sauna, cold water, and art submersion — as well as the background of the exhibition from a medical, historical, and cultural perspective.

ephemeral solidified light, 2021 | interactive installation, sound by teamlab

‘scientifically speaking, sauna trance is an exceptionally unique neurological state brought about by alternating hot and cold baths (repeated exposure to saunas, cold water, and rest),’ the exhibition website explains. ‘when entering a sauna trance, the senses sharpen, the mind clears, the beauty of the surrounding world comes into focus, and what normally goes unnoticed can be experienced. visitors go even deeper by entering the sauna, experiencing a sauna trance, and becoming immersed in the art.’

ephemeral solidified light, 2021 | interactive installation, sound by teamlab

highlights of the exhibition include levitation, a sphere that hovers in a space between the floor and ceiling, floating up and down as through transcending the concept of mass. the sphere falls to the ground and rolls away when people touch or impact it — but if there is no external interference, it will slowly rise into the air again, as though restoring itself to its original state.

ephemeral solidified light, 2021 | interactive installation, sound by teamlab

meanwhile, proliferating immense life – a whole year per year features a wall of digital flowers that bloom and change in real time. the cycle of growth and decay repeats itself in perpetuity. when visitors sit in front of the artwork to view it, the flowers scatter, wither, and die. teamLab has designed the artwork in a computer program that continuously renders the work in real time. the interaction between people and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork, meaning previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur.

levitation, 2021 |digital installation, sound by hideaki takahashi

also in the exhibition is ephemeral solidified light, an immersive work which sees countless solidified light crystals float in the air, rise, fall, and sometimes stay frozen in space. as visitors enter the artwork, the crystals of solidified light that are touched break, and the light from the crystals spreads throughout the space. ‘life is a phenomenon that appears as a miraculously solidified, ephemeral crystal of light in a continuum of energy that has been flowing without interruption since a past whose beginning is unknown.’

levitation, 2021 |digital installation, sound by hideaki takahashi

finally, the exhibition extends to the public realm with the augmented reality work, every life survives in fluctuating space. using the platform tiktok, users can digitally surround themselves in flowers that grow according to the size of the space. in the world seen through the camera of a smartphone with the tiktok app, flowers influenced by the environment of the real space are born in real time. the size of the flowers changes between the inside of a building and outside under the expansive sky.

levitation, 2021 |digital installation, sound by hideaki takahashi

proliferating immense life – a whole year per year, 2020 | interactive digital installation, sound by hideaki takahashi

each of the seven saunas has a different combination of temperature, humidity and changing light sequences

one of the saunas illuminated in a warm yellow light

array and spiral of resonating lamps – one stroke, metropolis tokyo, 2021 | interactive installation, murano glass, LED, endless, sound by hideaki takahash