Continuous Life in a Beautiful World

by Nathan Bennett

The 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Expo， with the theme “Live Green， Live Better，” poses a challenge： the world has gone high-tech， so how can we meaningfully“live green”？ The art installation Continuous Life in a Beautiful World by teamLab gives a possible answer. China Pictorial talked to teamLab to find out more.

An interdisciplinary art collective， teamLab aims to unite art， science， technology， design， and the natural world and navigate the intermediate space between them all. The art collective includes artists， programmers， engineers， CG animators， mathematicians， and architects. One thing that teamLab repeatedly stressed was their desire to explore the relationship between humans and nature， and their use of the digital medium allows them to transcend the use of physical materials and use space in new ways.

Members of teamLab are“ultra-technologists”： they are not distinctly technicians or artists； they combine their various disciplines in a collaborative effort. They begin with a general vision and together they discover the details of the final vision of each artwork they design. Various art and technology professionals work together to overcome the constraints of what is possible. In a running theme of breaking down boundaries， the artists and the technologists drop the walls between their respective disciplines and explore what they can depict in a digital medium freed from the physical limitations of traditional art.

In June 2018， teamLab opened their first permanent exhibition，“MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM： teamLab Borderless，” in Tokyo. Different pieces featured in this exhibition dynamically bleed over into one another and interact. The exhibition covers 10，000 square meters and visitors， constituent displays， and the space all interact to form what visitors experience as they go through it. Works of teamLab have also been exhibited in Europe， North America， Australia， Asia， and the Middle East.

Continuous Life in a Beautiful World， their work on display at the 2019 Beijing Expo， brings to life the rich ecosystem of mangrove forests， encompassing everything from mangrove trees down to the microorganisms in the underwater portions of mangrove ecosystems.Toshiyuki Inoko， founder of teamLab， was inspired by a visit to mangrove forests in Mexico and was overwhelmed by the diversity and vibrance of animal life in the mangrove ecosystems. The top-to-bottom interconnectivity of mangrove forests proved to be a compelling subject for teamLab.

Technological interconnectivity， according to teamLab， merely extends the self： Facebook， Twitter， and other social media merely express the individuals mind， but teamLab wants to use technology to enhance the relationships between people and space itself， rather than focusing on the individual. Their installations integrate computer graphics， sensors， and projection technology. What one visitor experiences will be influenced by a visitor who came before. Visiting one of their digital installations is not just looking at art in a picture frame； they transform the space itself in which their art is displayed into an immersive creative environment.

Because humans are an integrated part of nature， the teamLab work transforms as visitors interact with it. In Continuous Life in a Beautiful World， the colors of creatures in the mangrove forest that visitors see change as they pass by visitors， and one thing teamLab did for the first time with this exhibit was to start visitors in the life-size world of mangrove trees and then gradually enlarge the scale of the perceptible environment to immerse visitors in the aquatic environment and then the microscopic dimensions of mangrove forests.

Mangrove forests are a unique ecological environment where freshwater and seawater meet， and mangrove trees actually filter saltwater for their own use. As mangroves distribute their seedlings and the forest expands， it provides a welcoming environment for animal life and diverse microorganisms， and teamLabs depiction of different scales of life in a mangrove forest offers visitors the chance to see the typically invisible aspects of the environment. In line with their ongoing mission to redefine the relationship between humans and the surrounding world， the mangrove forest provided a new context to show the interconnectivity of the natural world and the arbitrariness of borders between human life and the natural world.

For the Beijing Expo， the idea of living “green” in a high-tech world seems to be something of a paradox， but teamLabs use of the digital medium helps them communicate the mindset they see as being helpful for living in harmony with nature. For teamLab， technology is their primary tool， but they use it for its potential to communicate the dense relationships in the natural world and the presence of humanity within it. Digital media allows art to break out of the literal frame of a rectangular painting and include visitors themselves.

The art external to visitors to Continuous Life in a Beautiful World is beautiful， and the beauty of the natural world includes the presence of humanity within it. There is no necessary conflict between nature and humanity， but humans and nature share in a larger“fragile yet miraculous borderless continuity of life.” Before humans can “live green” and “live better，”we have to understand the dense and complicated relationships between ourselves and nature. Continuous Life in a Beautiful World just demonstrates that point， with top-to-bottom comprehensiveness. New to this installation is teamLabs depiction of different scales of life， from normal human perspective to microscopic， but the theme of the unity of all life and the relationships between all constituent members is the same in all their works.

Currently， teamLab is showing art installations， Universe of Water Particles in the Tank， until August 24 at TANK Shanghai， as well as Forest of Life & Future Park at the Party Pier Culture and Art Zone in Guangzhou， until October 7. They are looking forward to showing A Forest Where Gods Live in Mifuneyama Rakuen， Takeo Hot Springs， Kyushu， Japan from July 12 to November 4， 2019， as well as Impermanent Flowers Floating in a Continuous Sea at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art， Kanazawa， Ishikawa， Japan， from August 9 to September 1， 2019.