Japanese art collective teamLab recently transformed Izura, a rugged coastal region in Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture, into a mesmerizing landscape for art and nature lovers to explore. The immersive exhibition, titled Hidden Traces of Rice Terraces, illuminates the area’s concealed rice terraces and ancient forests, turning them into a vibrant spectacle of color and light.
TeamLab's project, Digitized Nature, explores how digital technology and nature can merge to become art. “We thought to make the entire forest covering the ruins of the rice terraces into an artwork space that is at one with the surrounding plants,” they explain. “The artworks explore how the existence of these forms can be used as they are to create a place where we can transcend the boundary in our understanding of the continuity of time and feel the long, long continuity of life.”
Using vibrant light projections, teamLab transforms the natural landscape while leaving it unharmed. The forests are reimagined as enchanting, multicolored dreamscapes, with trees glowing in vivid hues, while lanterns float gently on the water, adding a warm, inviting glow.
For those who are lucky enough to be in Japan, Hidden Traces of Rice Terraces opens on September 30, and tickets are available now. Check out some images from the exhibition below.